A Flame in the Desert
by KeitaPekoe
Summary: The people of the Suna are reknowned for their superior horsemanship and their fine horses. But a seemingly untamable colt forces the Kazekage to seek outside help. GaaraXOC.
1. Chapter 1

**Author:** Keita Pekoe

**Title: **A Flame in the Desert

**Genre:** General / Romance

**Summary: **The people of the Suna are reknowned for their superior horsemanship and their fine horses. But a seemingly untamable colt forces the Kazekage to seek outside help.

**Rating:** PG13 / R

**Parings**: Gaara X OC

**Main Characters: **Gaara, OC, Kankurou, Temari

**Notes:** Please let me know what you guys think! This is my first fanfic, so constructive criticism is definitely welcome and appreciated! Thanks!!!

Keita

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**A Flame in the Desert**

**-1-**

**The Predicament**

The colt was magnificent; that was the only word that could be used to describe him. His shimmering coat was the color of blood on sand and his mane and tail were as black as coal. His muscles rippled and quivered powerfully whenever he moved. His eyes held the fire of his soul in them. Kaen was the colt's name.

Gaara had had his eye on the colt from the day he was born. Even then, he knew that the horse would be a grand one, worthy of the Kazekage.

Kaen had grown up to be everything that a well-bred horse of the Suna should be: strong, fast, fearless and spirited. These qualities were admired in a horse and Gaara watched him with pride as the colt grew from a small foal at his mother's side to a frolicking weanling to a headstrong yearling. Now the horse was two-years-old, and it was time to begin the training that would transform him into the ultimate horse. Once he had a rider to guide him, the horse would be the greatest ever born in the Suna.

_And he will be mine,_ Gaara thought to himself excitedly, if a bit greedily, as he watched the young colt gallop across the sand, his black mane and tail billowing like storm clouds behind him, easily outrunning the other two-year-olds in the herd.

Two days later, the horse masters came to collect the herd of two-year-old horses from the enormous paddock in which they had been allowed to run free since they had been weaned from their mothers. There were thirteen horses in all. Most of them came easily, were handed off to grooms, and taken to the barns where the beginning of many years of training was to commence. Several of the young horses gave the horse masters a difficult time, dodging their grasping hands and trotting away, however, they were eventually won over by the horse masters' patience and soft words.

Finally, all the horses had been collected, except for one: Kaen. The colt didn't only dodge and run from the horse masters, he charged at them, snorting fiercely. He reared and struck out at them with his diamond-hard hooves; he bucked and kicked at them. His ears were pinned flat against his skull and his fiery eyes rolled wildly, adding to his unnerving behavior.

The horse masters knew better than to back down from the furious colt, but to say that they were uncomfortable would be a severe understatement. None of them had ever dealt with such an intensely powerful horse, and most of them had been training horses for a long, long time. They had countless methods for dealing with troublesome young horses that allowed them to be firm with the animals, but without causing them stress or pain. Usually their patience and perseverance beat out the animals' stubbornness; but things were different with Kaen. They could see that no matter how long they coaxed, or waited for him to run himself out and come willingly, they would not win with him. He was too strong and too strong-willed. After trying for _four hours_ to capture the colt, they finally gave up for the day, and left to attend to the dozen other two-year-olds who were waiting in the barn. They figured that maybe, once Kaen realized that his companions were not coming back to the paddock, he would demand to be taken to the barns where they were out of sheer loneliness.

Kaen watched them go triumphantly, his nostrils flaring, his eyes burning.

Over the next several days, the horse masters, their assistant trainers and the grooms spent their time divided by the dozen two-year-olds in training…and Kaen. Whenever someone was not busy training, feeding or grooming the horses or doing some other chore around the barn, they were in the paddock, trying to catch Kaen. The colt seemed to have an unending supply of energy at his disposal. He could run and fight for hours, and usually did. He was not only physically intimidating, but also had a clever mind. On several occasions, he managed to trick a groom or assistant trainer into coming very close to him, on the pretense of allowing the individual to catch him, only to quickly turn on the human and chase them out of the paddock with bared teeth. It seemed as though Kaen was not only wild and high-spirited, but practically _feral_. The horse masters were worried that they would have no choice but to release the brilliant colt into the desert to live among the other wild horses. They were reluctant to even think this, for they knew of the Kazekage's plans to keep the colt as his own, and they knew he would be most displeased… no, downright _furious_, if he heard that his future steed was untamable and had been set free.

Temari had noticed the colt prancing about the paddock by himself on more than one occasion, and she didn't understand why he hadn't been taken to the barns to begin his training like the other two-year-olds, so she approached the horse masters on the fourth day.

"Shinbou-san," Temari addressed one of the younger horse masters, "Why has this horse not been taken to the training barn with the other young horses?"

Shinbou bowed slightly to the Kazekage's older sister as he answered, "My lady, this colt has evaded all of our attempts to capture him and take him to the barn. We simply cannot catch him, and we are running out of ideas," Both Shinbou and Temari turned to watch as Kaen chased one of the assistant trainers out of the paddock, baring his teeth, "He's also very vicious. He bites, kicks, rears and strikes…he's an extremely difficult horse."

Temari scoffed, "You call yourselves horse masters? Shouldn't you be able to deal with any horse no matter how difficult it is?"

Shinbou shifted nervously under Temari's harsh stare, "My lady, I must be open with you about this: I know that the Kazekage has been waiting for this horse to come of age so that he may claim him as his own…" Temari nodded, affirming his observation, "However, I honestly do not think that this horse is trainable. He will not even allow himself to be caught, I cannot imagine he would allow himself to be saddled and ridden."

"What exactly are you saying Shinbou-san?" Temari placed her hands on her hips.

Shinbou swallowed, "What I am saying is that we may have to release this horse into the desert, to live among the wild herds."

Temari's eyebrows lifted, "Released? You do realize how that would upset my brother?"

Shinbou nodded. "Yes, but I can see no other solution. We have twelve other horses that may be a handful because they are young and green, but this colt is another matter completely. He doesn't misbehave out of fear or liveliness; he is being ferocious because it is his nature. The other masters and I cannot spend our time trying to catch one untrainable colt when we have a dozen other colts and fillies ready for training. They are all fine horses, my lady, the Kazekage would have a fine mount if he were to choose one of them and assent to releasing this one."

Temari saw the predicament that the horse masters were in, and she understood why it upset them so. She knew that her brother's fury at the loss of his horse would be unbearable, but that while the masters and trainers spent time just trying to get the horse in the barn, the twelve other horses were having valuable training time taken from them. She was glad that she was not caught in this tight spot.

Shinbou pressed the toe of his boot into the sand, "My lady, I know that it is not my place to ask, but may I request a favor of you?"

Temari had several guesses as to what the horse master could ask of her, and she didn't like the thought of any of them, but she nodded affirmatively.

"I have been chosen among the horse masters to present this problem to the Kazekage tomorrow. Would you please be there when I tell him? I feel as though you truly understand that we are trying our hardest with this colt, but we are unable to make progress with him and in the meantime, the dozen other horses are not receiving the attention that they require in their training," Shinbou dug deeper into the sand. "I will be honest with the Kazekage and tell him that the only solution we can see is to set the colt free, and I know that this will upset him greatly, and that's what I will need your help with: to calm him and try to explain the situation in a light that he can better understand." Shinbou stopped his toe-drilling to look Temari straight in the eye, "Please my lady, it would mean the world to me if you would be willing to help me explain my situation to the Kazekage!"

Temari thought that he might actually start groveling at her feet if she remained silent. She could see the desperation in the man's eyes. She sighed and nodded, "Yes, Shinbou-san, I will be there tomorrow when you tell the Kazekage," A large smile broke across Shinbou's face, "But I cannot promise you anything more than that. You know my brother's obsession with this horse and you know of his temper as well. I might end up being useless to you in this matter."

"Oh no, my lady! I am sure that you will be a great help!"

Temari couldn't help a little smirk as she turned away, "We'll see," and she left to find Kankurou.

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A/N: Kaen is the word for "flame" 


	2. Chapter 2

**A Flame in the Desert**

**-2-**

**Brotherly Advice**

"He'll kill the man," Kankurou said.

Temari nodded, "And probably everyone else as well." She had just finished explaining the situation of Kaen, and the horse masters' inability to catch him and begin his training, to her other brother, along with the fact that she had agreed to go with Shinbou when he broke the news to Gaara.

Kankurou and Temari walked along the street in silence for a little while before it was finally broken by the girl, "You need to be there too." She said flatly.

"I…wait…what?! Me?! You're kidding right?"

Temari stopped walking, and turned to face her brother with her hands on her hips, "No, I'm not kidding Kankurou! This is very serious! You know how attached Gaara is to that stupid horse!"

"I know _that_, but what I don't know is why _I_ have to be there when that horse master tells him that his horse is a psycho!"

"_You_ have to go because _I _have to go!" Temari said it as though it was the most obvious thing in the world, and she was annoyed that he didn't understand it from the beginning.

Kankuro held up his hands defensively, "Hey, you wouldn't have to be there either if you hadn't promised that guy that you would. This is your problem, not mine, sis."

The sand kunoichi crossed her arms over her chest, "C'mon Kankurou! I really need you right now! It's not very nice that you decide to just leave me on my own for this."

Kankurou sent an evil smirk his sister's way, "Who said I was trying to be nice? You asked me for something, I refused, it's not rocket science, Temari!"

Temari's face was full of agitation as she none-too-gently punched her brother in the shoulder. She continued walking with her eyes on the ground before her feet, thinking at a fast pace; she only had that night to think of something to say to Gaara that would back up the young horse master and convince her brother not to kill him.

"Aha! I've got it!" Kankurou suddenly exclaimed, making his sister nearly jump out of her skin as she was jostled out of her deep thoughts.

The blond smacked her brother's shoulder again, "You've got what?"

"The solution to the horse problem!"

"Alright, what is it then?"

Kankurou went on excitedly, obviously proud of his superior problem-solving skills, "We can get a horse master in from a different village!"

Temari waited a few seconds, expecting him to continue. When he didn't she replied, "Is that all? Well that's just brilliant Kankurou, let's just tell every other village that our horse masters can't even handle one problematic colt, I'm sure they'll think the world of us after that!"

Kankurou rolled his eyes at his sister's dramatics. "No, dumb-dumb, we're not gonna tell _all_ of the other villages…we're only looking for horse masters. In fact, I have just the one in mind…"

Temari hoped that her brother knew what he was talking about; she would feel immensely stupid if she made this suggestion to Gaara and it turned out to be purposeless because this supposed "great horse master" that Kankurou went on about didn't even really exist. She had a feeling that her brother would be more incensed if he was told that his horse could _not_ be trained, but then told that they knew of someone who _could_ train it, and was finally told that said person didn't actually exist and the horse had to be gotten rid of. If she managed to make it out of that maelstrom of the Kazekage's fury, she would definitely kill Kankurou in the most malicious and terrible way she knew.


	3. Chapter 3

**A Flame in the Desert**

**-3-**

**Confessions, Threats and Propositions**

She awoke early the next morning and met Shinbou outside of the building that housed the Kazekage's office.

"Good morning, my lady," the young horse master said respectfully as Temari covered a yawn with her palm.

"Good morning Shinbou-san, are you ready to do this?"

The nervous young man nodded strongly, although Temari thought that he might be sick any moment.

She gave a confident nod. "Right, let's go then," She led the way up the stairs, making sure to keep a step or two ahead of Shinbou, just in case he actually did throw up.

They reached the top of the staircase and began to make their way down the hall to Gaara's office, pausing in front of the massive double doors that served as the only objects separating them from the moody Kazekage.

Temari took a deep breath and closed her eyes for a second.

Shinbou was trying hard to control his visible shaking.

"Thank you again, my lady, for coming with me," he gave Temari a weak smile as she reached out to grasp the door handle.

She returned the smile and turned the handle and swung the door open. She stood aside so that the horse master could walk in ahead of her, followed him in, and gently closed the door once she was fully inside the room. She turned to look around for her red-headed brother, but didn't have to look far; he was in his desk chair, black-rimmed eyes closed, deep in his sleep-like trance.

Shinbou had stopped walking and was now looking at Temari questioningly. She strode past him and over to the desk.

"Gaara?" she said softly; he didn't respond.

The girl tiptoed softly to his side. "Gaara?" Still no response.

She cautiously bent down, her mouth next to his ear. "Gaara?" she whispered.

He didn't stir.

Temari looked at Shinbou - who had been watching her closely, looking like a rabbit that was ready to bolt at the first sign of danger – and shrugged. She was about to join him on the opposite side of the desk when a hand grabbed her firmly by the wrist. She let out a startled, high-pitched screech and twisted around.

"Temari, is it really necessary to make infernally loud noises at this hour?" Gaara asked, his blackened eyes still closed.

"Well what the hell did you expect me to do? You scared the crap out of me!" Temari was furious that he had just about given her a heart attack, and momentarily forgot that she would practically be at his mercy within the next few moments. She pulled her arm out of the red-head's grasp and re-joined Shinbou.

The young Kazekage opened his eyes, revealing their sea-blue tint. He glanced once, quickly, at Shinbou, before turning his gaze back to his sister. "Who's your friend, and what do the two of you want?" he asked, "If you're looking for a marriage consent, Temari, I already told you: no bums!"

Temari placed her hands on her hips, clearly offended. "No Gaara, I am not asking you for your consent to marry, as if I needed it anyway, **baby brother**! And this so-called 'bum' is actually one of your horse masters, in charge of training the horses of the village."

"Oh, really?" Gaara asked disinterestedly, shuffling through the piles of paperwork on his desk.

"Yes and he came with some news for you," the sandy-blond continued, trying to regain her brother's attention, "About Kaen actually."

At the mention of his beloved horse, Gaara stopped his shuffling, folded his hands placidly and reset his cold blue gaze on the pair in front of him. Temari shivered slightly; Shinbou looked like he might be sick again. "What about him?" asked the Kazekage.

The horse master looked at Temari helplessly; she gave him an encouraging nod. He took a deep breath and one step forward. "Kazekage-sama, I'm here on behalf of every horse master in your employ. As you may or may not know, the colt that you have attached yourself to, the one called Kaen, has not yet been taken into the training barn with the other two-year-old horses, despite the fact that they were all taken in five days ago," he stopped, waiting for any sort of reaction from the Kazekage; Gaara just stared, waiting for him to continue, "Th-The reason for this is that the colt is wild, and I do not just mean that he's feisty and spirited like any other young horse, he is wild to the point where he is very nearly feral. He will not allow any of the masters or our assistants to get near enough to him to catch him, so he has remained in the paddock, alone, for the past five days. But we have been trying constantly to catch him, Kazekage-sama," Shinbou added quickly, "We have had several masters, trainers and grooms out there, rotating every few hours, trying to capture him. But all of our efforts have been in vain. So we came to the conclusion that…well," the young man was starting to freeze up, and began to nervously dig at the floor, his eyes down, "That is, the masters came to a unanimous decision that, since we have been spending so much time simply trying to catch the horse…and it's taking time away from the training of the dozen other horses…we, uh, decided that, um, the best thing for everyone would be to, uh, well…"

Shinbou could see that Gaara was losing his patience. He gulped and closed his eyes, preparing for the consequential impact of his words.

"We decided to release him into the desert, Kazekage-sama!" It all came out in a rush. Shinbou immediately expected to be blasted with sand or else removed from the Kazekage's presence by his own physical strength, but neither occurred. The horse master opened one eye slightly, and saw the red-haired Kazekage sitting calmly, hands still folded on his desk, blue eyes fixed on his face.

Shinbou didn't know whether to be relieved or more frightened as he fully opened both of his eyes to meet Gaara's. Temari looked nervously back and forth between the two, not knowing what to expect.

Finally, Gaara closed his eyes and sighed, "Temari, since when am I in the habit of hiring incompetents?"

"Uh, you're not." She answered him.

"Then tell me why this man and his comrades, who are supposed to be _masters_ in their profession, are INCAPABLE OF DOING THEIR JOB?!?" he finished in a loud, fury-filled voice, his eyes snapping open to reveal the fire in them.

Temari saw fear flash across Shinbou's face and thought he might faint. Luckily, he managed to hold himself together. She decided that it was time for her to step in, but before she could, Shinbou thought it best to try and redeem himself, which Temari knew was probably the worst thing to do at this time.

"Oh, please Kazekage-sama! Have mercy!" he practically threw himself at Gaara, pleading, "We have tried everything! The colt will not be tamed! Please it is the only thing we can think of!"

Gaara stood, "How dare you come to me and tell me that you cannot tame my horse! What the hell do I hire horse masters and trainers for if you cannot even train one horse!" He pointed to the double doors that led out into the hallway and roared, "You get your worthless ass out of my office and down to that barn and start doing your job correctly or else you won't have a job anymore! Do I make myself clear?"

Shinbou couldn't speak and could barely walk as he stumbled out of the office. Temari heard his heavy footfalls on the stairs as he dashed back to the barn. She then turned to glare at her brother with an annoyed expression. "Well that was handled well." She said sarcastically.

Gaara sat down roughly in his chair, head back, his hand over his closed eyes. "I have a headache," he complained.

"Well maybe if you didn't work yourself up into such frenzies, you would be spared these headaches." She replied sourly.

He opened one eye to glare at her through his fingers. "Well maybe if I wasn't surrounded by a bunch of incompetents all the time who are constantly complaining to me and ruining all my plans, I wouldn't get so worked up!"

Temari rolled her eyes and poured a glass of water which she took to her red-headed brother. "I've seen how that horse is, and they really are doing their best Gaara. They've tried everything and it's not working."  
"They're horse masters, Temari, it's their fucking _job_ to deal with all kinds of horses," he took a swallow of the water she had brought to him, "Nobody ever said that it would be easy all the time."

The blond sat down across from her brother, "I know that, and so do they, but they've tried every method that they know of –and they know a lot - and they've even consulted outside sources for possible solutions; nothing is working. And not only is Kaen becoming more and more likely to kill someone, but it's true what Shinbou said about the twelve other two-year-olds not receiving the amount of training that is customary at this age. If something isn't done soon, you're going to have one feral colt and twelve untrained and raucous young horses to deal with."

Gaara shook his head, "He's a horse, Temari. He's just an animal. I refuse to believe that there is nothing that they can do to calm him down and get some training put into him."

"Have you seen him recently? I mean, have you actually gone down to try to interact with him, not just looked at him from your window? He's amazing to watch, but dealing with him directly is another matter completely. There are ridiculous stories popping up among the more superstitious of the villagers that Kaen is the reincarnation of some demon horse and that he'll destroy the village," Temari told her brother. "Something has to be done."

"Well what do you suggest then?" Gaara asked his sister sharply. "Do you agree with the horse master? Hmm? Should we let him go in the desert? You don't understand Temari, I've been waiting for a horse like Kaen for ages! The last thing I want to do is to lose him because he can't be handled!"

"I know," Temari saw this as her opportunity to bring up the solution that Kankurou had offered. "That's why we need to get someone else in here to work with him."

"What? What are you talking about?" Gaara looked at his sister with interest.

"I'm talking about finding a horse master from another village to come here and work with Kaen. That way, the horse masters here can concentrate on the other horses, and Kaen can have all the one-on-one training that he needs."

"Huh." The Kazekage seemed to mull over the idea in his red head for a few moments. "And where exactly do you suggest we look to find such a horse master? If our own cannot deal with him, what makes you think that any ordinary horse master from another village will be capable of handling him?"

Temari let out a breath that she hadn't even realized she was holding. "Well, now that you mention it, I've heard of a horse master that lives just outside the Waterfall Village that is supposed to be of renowned skill and has the ability to tame any horse, no matter what the circumstances."

The wheels in Gaara's head were working as he processed this information. "I see. And you believe that this celebrated horse master will be able to work the kinks out of Kaen and turn him into a suitable mount?"

"Well…" Temari began, "I've really never heard of him… you know I'm not that into horses!" Temari said in response to Gaara rolling his eyes, "But I've asked the other horse masters, assistant trainers and even the grooms…anyone who would know anything about horses and training, I've asked, and they all say that it's a good idea!"

"Of course they do," Gaara turned his chair so that he could look out of his window down to the paddock where his prized colt was fending off a horse master and two assistants with strikes from his powerful front legs. He sighed, "Alright Temari, I trust you and whoever put this idea into your head in the first place. Here, I'm writing a letter to this horse master, explaining the situation. I'll leave it up to you to decide who will deliver it."

Temari smiled, accepted the letter and stood to exit the room. Gaara returned to his paperwork. As she was about to close the door behind her, he called to her.

"Oh, Temari," she paused, "Don't let me down. I might get _really_ upset next time."

The blond-haired kunoichi gulped and nodded, shutting the door on her brother.

She began to breathe much more easily as she walked further and further away from the Kazekage's office, holding the letter from Gaara to this horse master. She was about to turn the corner and head to the training barn to inform the horse masters of the Kazekage's decision when a voice stopped her.

"So? How'd it go?" Kankurou drawled, leaning idly with his back against the wall.

Temari was instantly annoyed. "If you had _been_ there, then you would know," she spat, "Why should I tell you anything?" She resumed her walking.

Kankurou fell into stride beside her. "You'll tell me because it was _my_ idea in the first place and because you love me." He looked at her with his "puppy dog" eyes.

The blond turned a deathly glare on him. "Uh-uh, it's not gonna work this time, bro. I am officially pissed that you would put a stupid idea in my head and then wouldn't even back me up and now you have the damn nerve to ask me what happened like I was just out on a date! You can honestly be such a jerk!" Temari was fuming.

Kankurou laughed. "Alright then, I'll draw my own conclusions based on what I do know. First, I saw that wimpy horse master come tripping out of the building like his legs were made of Jell-o or something, so obviously Gaara didn't kill him. However, I can deduce that he didn't take the news of his horse's mental instability very well. How am I doing so far?" He asked snidely.

Temari huffed and sped up her step a little bit.

"Alright, I'll keep going, seeing as how I'm on the right track," the cocky puppeteer continued, "You stayed up there for some time after pony-boy came out, so I can assume that you were talking to Gaara and throwing 'your' proposition on the table. And based on the relieved look on your face when you came out and the letter you're holding that appears to be written in our brother's hand, I can suppose that he accepted. Am I right?" he looked very pleased with himself; Temari looked like she would have chucked a rock at his head if she had been holding one.

Secretly, the blond kunoichi was impressed with the accuracy of her brother's presumption skills, but that did little to appease her sadistic feelings toward him.

"I don't have time for your crap, Kankurou. If you're so eager to find out what happened, go ask Gaara yourself. I'm kind of busy, unlike _someone_ I know!" And with that, she broke into a light run towards the barn, leaving her brown-haired brother laughing in a swirl of dust.


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey Everyone! I really appreciate the couple of reviews that I've received so far! I'm glad that people are reading the story and liking it, and I do plan on continuing (obviously, as I am submitting a new chapter :) **

**Please read and review. Comments, suggestions, questions (I know I tend to get a little technical with the horse stuff, lol)... all are welcome!!! **

**Thanks guys!!!**

**Keita**

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**A Flame in the Desert**

**-4-**

**The Joys of Travel**

Temari had never been particularly fond of horses. She didn't mind watching them - there was no denying that the horses of the Suna were absolutely stunning to behold – but as far as interacting with them - grooming, riding, whatever - she would have rather occupied her time elsewhere, and she usually did. Unfortunately, there was no escaping this time. Gaara had told Temari last night that she would be going with the messengers to the Waterfall Village as his ambassador, since, after his blow-out with Shinbou, he felt that everyone else in his employ was incapable of doing anything correctly.

She reluctantly walked over to the horse that she was to be riding throughout the journey. Taizen, a glossy-coated chestnut gelding, was standing patiently, all saddled up and ready for his rider.

"Alright, horse, listen up," Temari took the horse's head in her arms and looked him right in the eye, "I'm going to be honest with you: I don't want to go on this trip, and I don't like riding. However, seeing as how fate has cruelly decided to force us together, we may as well make this journey as enjoyable as possible, agreed?" The horse just blinked. "So here's the deal: you just walk along normally, like a good horse, and do whatever it is that I ask you to do, and I'll promise to be a nice rider, and not kick you or pull on your mouth or anything. Ok? Do we have a deal?" The horse sighed placidly. "Good horse." Temari patted his smooth cheek and turned to the small assembly of messengers and some ninja who were going along as guards. "Ok people, let's get going! The sooner we leave, the sooner we'll get back!"

With that, everyone began mounting their horses. Temari clambered up onto Taizen's back and adjusted the giant fan that was strapped to her back so that it didn't poke and prod her too badly while she rode. It was going to be a _long_ trip, and she was already uncomfortable enough in the saddle as it was, the last thing she needed was for her fan to be sticking her in the back.

The traveling party began to slowly make its way to the gates of the city that opened up into the desert. Temari noticed that some of the villagers had gathered to see them off, among them, her annoying brother Kankurou.

He waved good-bye with an obnoxious grin on his face, and Temari would have leapt from her horse and pummeled him right then and there if that didn't mean that she would then have to somehow get back on the horse afterwards. So she covertly made a very rude gesture at him instead. He just laughed.

As she fumed to herself about his immaturity and insolence, she chanced a look at Gaara's office window. She was just able to make out his form standing in the frame of the large window, watching them. She also noticed that Kaen was watching the procession from his paddock.

_You stupid horse, I hope this horse master knocks some sense into your big dumb head,_ The blond thought as she made eye contact with the colt; she could have sworn by the glimmer in his eye that he was laughing at them.

This infuriated Temari further. Not only was her brother being a total punk, now she had to endure the crazy colt's impudence as well. She could hardly wait until the horse master came and made that horse behave and act like a civilized animal. Maybe the horse master trained brothers too…

The small caravan stopped to rest for the night near a small oasis. Temari couldn't walk without her legs and thighs aching. Riding all day after not having ridden for years was _not_ a good idea, and she was so angry that she hadn't thought of that before. She could have at least stretched or something…

She unsaddled Taizen and led him to the spring to drink, walking very stiffly. The horse gratefully drank the cool, clean water and accepted some oats as his dinner. After she had tended to her mount's needs, the blond girl unrolled her sleeping mat, laid her giant fan to rest within an arm's reach beside it, and settled down for the night. She was not only sore, but totally fatigued. They had ridden at a walk all day, but the heat, combined with the fact that they had been riding since dawn, had exhausted Temari so much that she had no trouble falling right into a deep sleep.

They got another early start the next morning. Temari was still extremely sore from the previous day, and was fully intending to walk, leading Taizen, rather than get back into the saddle. However, once the sun came up and the heat started to affect her, the blond kunoichi reluctantly climbed into the saddle, despite her leg muscles' screaming displeasure at being stretched again. She was miserable for the rest of the day and most of the night as well.

By the fourth day of traveling, Temari was not getting sore from riding anymore. She had finally grown accustomed to being aboard the horse and was even comfortable enough to ask him to trot ahead to the front of the procession so that she could speak with the navigator. She had managed to work through her pre-bedtime routine with Taizen with increasing speed, and was now able to unsaddle and brush him down, feed and water him, and check him over for any signs of lameness or other affliction as though she had been doing it for years.

The gelding honored their "pact" and behaved perfectly for her throughout the journey. He never reared, bucked or bolted, he always stood patiently and quietly while she tended to him at night, and he never strayed far from where she slept. Temari had actually grown quite fond of the gentle horse, and was secretly thrilled the first time he came to her when she called him one morning to be saddled.

By the end of the tenth day, Temari was growing impatient. The traveling party had _finally_ made it out of the desert at the end of the sixth day and they were right on the border of the Grass Village, having already passed through the Rain Village. She trotted Taizen to the head of the procession to speak with the navigator.

"How much further do we have to go, and how long will it take to get there?"

"We haven't got to travel very much further; I would say that we will reach the Waterfall Village within two or three days."

Temari sighed in disappointment. She had been hoping that they would get there that evening or at least tomorrow morning. She wanted to cry; _two more days of this torture?_ True, they were out of the desert, where the sun scorched her halfway to a heat stroke and she had had sand all over her. It had been in her clothes, her hair, her sleeping mat…it had been miserable. But traveling through the Rain Village hadn't been that much fun either. The air had gone from dry and hot in the desert to thick and humid; Temari had often felt as though she would choke to death on it, it was so intense. She hated the way it made her feel sticky and clammy. Sleeping in it had been awful; she had really thought for awhile that she would drown in the water lingering in the air. Plus, all that humidity made her hair unmanageable. She could only imagine what "fun" the Grass Village had in store for her as she eyed a clump of prickly-looking grasses.

Suddenly, Taizen, who had been placidly walking along, stopped dead in his tracks and lifted his head, ears pricked forward, nostrils flaring. Temari snapped out of her inner pity-party and started scanning the surrounding scenery for the source of her horse's distraction. By this time, she knew the gelding well enough to know that his attention was very rarely diverted from the path that he walking on, so for him to stop so suddenly was an obvious indication that something wasn't right.

Temari couldn't _see_ anything or anyone, but Taizen's uneasiness had rubbed off on her, and she was sure that the traveling party was being watched. She was about to make her way to the head of the parade to fill in the leader of the ninja on security duty of her suspicions, when a kunai whistled through the air, inches from Temari's face, and thudded into a tree trunk next to her head.

* * *

**A/N: **Taizen means "Calm" 


	5. Chapter 5

**A Flame in the Desert**

**-5-**

**Highway Robbery**

"Shit!" Temari yelled, completely shocked.

Taizen felt his rider's sudden tension and jolted forward, his first instinct being to run away. The blond kunoichi was caught off balance for a moment, but quickly regained her seat. She grabbed the reins and turned Taizen around to face the spot where she had very nearly been shish-kebabbed. She quickly got over her initial surprise and was now just pissed off. _Who_ the hell would try to kill them? They had no valuable possessions, no important people traveling with them…just some messengers, ninja and herself. Even their horses weren't that spectacular, when compared to horses like Kaen and some of the other horses that were back in the Suna; they were hardly worth stealing.

Unsure of whether it was an actual attack, or just some old, forgotten booby trap that was set off, Temari decided not to take any chances; she unhooked her fan from its position on her back and held it ready to attack. The other ninja in the group were also on their guard, some had drawn kunai or shuriken, others were readying themselves for weaponless attacks. The messengers and navigator were grouped together in the center of the protective circle that the ninja had formed.

Temari waited for what seemed like forever before the source of the attack was revealed in the form of three ninja who leapt from the bushes, brandishing weapons. Three…short ninja…with weapons that looked…homemade? The blond kunoichi was confused as she took the outward appearances of the three rouges into account. These ninja were just kids; probably no older than ten years. They didn't even have headbands from their village, wherever that was. As for their weapons… kunai made from sharpened stones with a stick lashed to one end and – was that supposed to be a katana? – made from what looked like a butter knife tied to a longer stick.

The kids were wearing what seemed to be traveling clothing: waterproof cloaks, light, breathable, but warm shirts, fingerless gloves with gripping pads on the palms and comfortable pants and boots. The three wore extremely fierce expressions on their faces most likely hoping to intimidate their victims. However, Temari heard some of the ninja in the group chuckling quietly, and actually had to cover her mouth to stifle a smile as well.

"Hey, lady! Give us all yer money!" Yelled the one who Temari assumed was the leader of this little highway robbery: a boy with dark spiky hair and brilliant green eyes. His companions nodded in unison, reinforcing his command.

Temari giggled slightly. _So pathetic, but so cute!_ "Sorry, you've caught me at a bad time; I haven't had a chance to cash my last paycheck yet."

This caused a couple of the travelers in the party to loudly snort with laughter and caused the boy to turn slightly red in the face and deepen his angry expression.

"I'm not kiddin'! You'd better hand everything over to us, or else!"

"Yeah!" Shouted another of the three, a little girl with her blue-black hair in a short ponytail and deep brown eyes. Temari guessed that she was about six-years-old.

"I'm _not_ kidding; I have no money on me right now. We are probably the worst people that you could rob, because we're all poor."

The kids looked at each other in confusion for a second, before turning their harsh glares back on the Suna travelers.

"You do too! Quit lying to us!" Yelled the "leader", brandishing his makeshift kunai in a menacing manner, "You wouldn't be ridin' those horses and have those nice clothes if you weren't rich!"

Temari laughed, "Trust me, kid, where we come from, these horses and clothes would be considered pretty shabby."

The boy's fierceness seemed to disappear and a dejected look replaced it; Temari almost felt sorry that she had said anything.

"Why are you trying to rob travelers anyways? What do you need money for so badly?" The blond inquired.

The boy shrugged, "We gotta eat. We don't have no money, so we either gotta steal money or steal food."

"Oh." Temari looked at each of the kids, all traces of the violent highway robbers now gone and replaced with three dismal, hungry little street urchins.

The little girl tugged at the sleeve of the other, brown-haired boy; he bent down to listen to her whisper in his ear, "Hogosha, I'm hungry! Are we gettin' money from the lady?"

Hogosha shook his head, "I don't think so, Puchi. But don't worry, me an' Kyoukou will find you something to eat."

Temari had heard their little exchange, and it pained her to think that these kids were really going to go without food. "Don't you kids have a home and a family to be getting back to?"

The three shook their heads. Kyoukou, the dark-haired boy, answered, "No, we don't have a home. We just live wherever we happen to be."

"I see," Temari replied, "Well who looks after all of you? Don't tell me that there's no adult to watch over you."

"Aimi takes care of us!" Puchi piped up.

"Aimi?" Temari looked at each of the boys questioningly, "Who's that?"

"She's like our older sister. She used to baby-sit us when we were really little. Our families were really good friends before…" Kyoukou trailed off, leaving his sentence unfinished. His eyes were now on the ground, as were Puchi's and Hogosha's. Temari realized that she had stumbled upon a sensitive subject.

"So, is Aimi around?" She asked.

Hogosha picked up his head and met Temari's dark blue-green eyes with his piercing blue ones, "We're not supposed to tell anyone where we're camped."

"Oh, I see. Well I would really like to speak to Aimi; do you think that she would meet me somewhere?"

Kyoukou looked Temari over suspiciously, "Why do you wanna talk to Aimi so badly?"

Temari shrugged, "I just want to ask her a few questions is all. There's no harm in that, is there?"

The boys looked at each other, unsure of whether Temari could be trusted or not; Puchi rubbed her eyes and yawned.

Kyoukou turned to look at his little sister, then turned his emerald gaze back to Temari, "We've gotta get her back, it's been a long day. I'll see if I can get Aimi to meet you. She might not come back tonight. Wait for her under that sakura tree," he pointed to a pink-blossomed tree a couple meters off, "If she agrees then I'll tell her to meet you shortly after dark. She might be a little late, but if you wait for more than a half-hour, you can leave, because it means she's not comin'."

Temari nodded, "Got it. Sakura tree after dark; I'll be there."

Kyoukou gave a nod and turned to walk off with his brother, who was letting the sleepy Puchi ride piggy-back on him.

"Oh, wait a sec!" Temari called, digging in her saddlebags.

Kyoukou turned around. Temari handed the boy several packs of instant food.

"But I wasn't lying when I said that I have no money on me!" She smiled.

Kyoukou grinned back at her thankfully before dashing off through the tall grass to rejoin his siblings.

Night was moving swiftly in. The sky was already dusky with hues of orange and yellow and red from the setting sun mingling with the dark blues and purples of night. The rest of the caravan had been questioning Temari's decision to meet with the children's guardian, claiming that it was pointless to their mission and it would only waste time, since they wouldn't travel much farther than the sakura tree that was to serve as the meeting post.

Temari had just dismissed their thoughts and opinions on the matter with a shake of her sandy-blond hair, saying that her mind was made up. What she didn't say was that even though she fully intended to give this girl who served as the guardian of the three young children a piece of her mind and tell her that she shouldn't be leaving them to roam about the forest by themselves and try to rob travelers, Temari was more curious than anything to find out more about them.

Finally, the last fiery shades of the sun vanished from the sky, and Temari could see the first stars of night appearing. She stood up and quickly hitched her fan onto her back. She wasn't really expecting the guardian to attack her, but, as it was made clear earlier, there was no telling what sort of threats were lurking in the tall grasses and bushes.

She sat down with her back against the trunk of the sakura tree, staring up at the now very dark sky with its twinkling stars and milky white half-moon. She was quite enraptured at the scene that the moonlight created when its light flooded over the grassy landscape. Temari was so busy admiring her surroundings, that she didn't even notice a cloud-white horse carrying a young girl come walking over on her right side.

"Are you the 'lady' that suffered at the hands of my younger siblings earlier today?" Temari nearly jumped out of her skin when the girl addressed her.

_Wow, great job. Some fearsome kunoichi you are Temari._ She recovered her composure before answering, "Yes," Then, for some humor, she added, "I have to admit, they were quite frightening. You must be Aimi then."

The girl nodded, "I am. Uma No Aimi, is what I'm called," Aimi slid off of her horse's back, whispered a few words to it, and it walked placidly away to stand grazing a few feet off. Aimi turned her eyes back to Temari, who noticed that they were milky blue, like the eyes of the Hyuuga clan, except Aimi's were a shade or two darker blue. She also guessed that Aimi was probably around her brother Gaara's age: about twenty-one, give or take a year.

"You must forgive me, but the little ones didn't give me your name. If I'm not mistaken, they didn't even ask you for it?"

Temari nodded, "No, they seemed to be in a bit of a rush," she extended her hand to the younger girl, "I'm Sabaku No Temari, it's a pleasure meeting you."

Aimi took the sand kunoichi's hand and shook it, "Likewise. So, you're from the desert, huh? I hear they have nice horses there."

"Yeah, they're alright, I guess. I'm really not that into riding. I didn't ride that much before going on this journey, but I've grown accustomed to it."

"The kids said that the horse you ride is very nice; they said he has a good temperament."

"I'll agree with them on that one," Temari smiled. "Taizen is a good horse. He's been really patient with me on this journey."

Aimi looked over at her horse, who looked almost unearthly with the moonlight illuminating its already-glowing coat. "A good horse-rider bond is necessary to accomplish anything. If a horse and rider butt heads all the time over everything, then they're likely to spend all their time fighting each other instead of enemies, or accomplishing missions, or completing journeys. You're lucky to have a good horse that's willing to work with you, and you're smart to try to work _with_ your horse, rather than just take control over him. Respect on both parts is needed to form a working relationship."

Temari was slightly astonished by the girl's short-but-smart oration. "Wow, how do you know so much about working with horses?"

* * *

**A/N: I'm apologizing in advance if the next chapter takes a little while to get up here. Unfortunately, it's finals week, so I will have ZERO time to write :P The good news is that after finals is winter break and I will have tons of time to write! I think that chapter 6 is almost ready to go up, so as soon as finals are over, I promise I will get it up asap!!! Thanks everyone:D**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hooray! Finals are over and now I have super-long winter break for some recovery and relaxing! And writing, of course:D Thanks for being patient while I finished this up; I promise to do my best and update asap now that I have a ton more time to write! Hope you enjoy the chapter!**

**-Keita

* * *

**

**A Flame in the Desert**

**-6-**

**Meeting the Horse Master**

_Aimi looked over at her horse, who looked almost unearthly with the moonlight illuminating its already-glowing coat. "A good horse-rider bond is necessary to accomplish anything. If a horse and rider butt heads all the time over everything, then they're likely to spend all their time fighting each other instead of enemies, or accomplishing missions, or completing journeys. You're lucky to have a good horse that's willing to work with you, and you're smart to try to work with your horse, rather than just take control over him. Respect on both parts is needed to form a working relationship."_

_Temari was slightly astonished by the girl's short-but-smart oration. "Wow, how do you know so much about working with horses?"_

* * *

Aimi smiled a little sadly, "My father was a great horse master in our village. He could tame any horse that was brought to him. He taught me that respect is the key to building any kind of good relationship with a horse. Once the horse learns to respect its rider as a teacher, it will obey him and strive for his approval. Once a trainer or rider learns to respect his horse as a teacher of trust and patience, he will know the best way to teach the horse with firmness _and_ kindness, and the horse will learn to become a trustworthy and dependable mount, faithful to his rider."

The sand kunoichi was impressed. "Your father seems like a very wise man. Does he still train horses?"

"No," Aimi lowered her eyes to the grass and began daintily picking apart a moonlit blade of it, "No, he died when I was seventeen, my mother too. It was a freak accident thing. My family was very close with the parents of the kids that you met earlier, my 'siblings'. One day, they were all out on errands, so I took the kids down by the river to swim and fish; we were gone all day. When we returned to the village, we were told that our parents had been killed when a genin's water jutsu got way out of control, and six people were killed – drowned - while about a dozen others had been injured and were in critical care."

"Oh my God," Temari breathed, "That's terrible."

"Yeah," Aimi began shredding another blade of grass, "I really feel sorry for the kid that did it though. It was an honest accident; he couldn't control the jutsu, I don't think he even expected it to work. But the village tormented that poor kid until he finally left; I think he was thirteen. Don't get me wrong, I miss my parents more than anything, and I would trade my life if it meant that the kids got their parents back, but we've all accepted that there's nothing we can do except to live our lives in ways that would have made our parents proud of us."

Temari suddenly remembered the whole reason that she had wanted to meet with Aimi in the first place. "That reminds me, the actual reason that I wanted to meet with you was so that I could talk to you about the kids. Is it true that you're their guardian?"

Aimi nodded her ebony head. "Yeah, I took care of them before the accident, and I was the only one that they would let near them afterwards, so I became their guardian by default."

"Wasn't it hard? I mean, you were only seventeen and you had three kids to take care of."

"Yeah, it was kinda tough at first, especially because Puchi was so little and she didn't understand that her parents weren't coming back. But the boys were a big help, and the rest of the villagers helped us as much as they could; the grocers would give me a break if I was a dollar or two short when I was grocery shopping, and we had this one neighbor who would shovel the snow off the front step for us. Just little things like that that I really appreciated."

"How did you manage to support yourself and them?"

"I took over my father's business. I've been riding since I was old enough to walk, and I trained my first horse when I was five. Actually, it was a pony, but if you've ever been around ponies, you know that they're probably more pig-headed and naughty than any horse," Aimi laughed, "Anyways, I already had a reputation for being a good trainer, so I got a lot of business. My father's clients stayed with me, which I'm grateful for, and I had new ones coming in all the time. Soon, clients began coming in from outside villages, and my status as a trainer was greatly heightened. When I turned nineteen, I was able to expand the business and take on two other trainers to help me. I also travel to other villages for really problematic horses when we're not too full at home. And, obviously, I bring the kids."

"So, what do you do when you have to travel really far distances, as far as living, I mean?" Temari was thoroughly intrigued.

"We just camp out. I always ride my own horse, Kumo," she gestured towards the grazing white horse, "And I usually carry Puchi with me, but the other two like to walk or run on the ground. They claim that they're building up their strength so that they're not too weak to become ninja when they get older." The blue-eyed girl smiled fondly at the thought.

"Oh, so are you planning on sending them to a ninja academy?" Temari asked.

Aimi shrugged, "That's really up to them. I'm not going to force them to become something that they'd rather not be. I'd absolutely love it if they got into the horse training business with me, and, maybe one or all of them will. If not, that's fine too, just as long as they're happy."

Temari nodded understandingly. A light, warm breeze rustled her sandy blond hair, and she found herself marveling at the stars again. A thought hit her suddenly. "Oh! Aimi, I forgot to ask you, what village _are_ you from?"

"The Waterfall Village," Aimi replied, not taking her eyes from the glowing moon overhead.

"I see. And are you the _only_ horse master from the Waterfall Village?" the blond kunoichi was growing more excited.

Aimi nodded.

"Really?" Temari was now thinking about what Kankurou had told her about the grand horse master living in the Waterfall Village, "So, does that make you the super- famous, highly-reputed, can-train-absolutely-_any_-horse horse master from the Waterfall Village?"

Aimi looked at the sand kunoichi with confusion clouding her pearly eyes, "Umm… I guess so?"

"HA!" Kumo, still a few yards off, jumped at Temari's loud exclamation, and looked at his master, who just shrugged, "I was coming to find you!!! _You're_ the awesome horse master who's going to tame my brother's bad, crazy horse! Haha!!! And I didn't even have to travel all the way to the Waterfall Village, thank God! Oh, Kankurou will be so _pissed_ that I actually succeeded and…" The blond stopped her ranting for a moment to look at the black-haired girl, who was just staring at her with an expression that was a mix of bewilderment and alarm, "Um…that is, _if_ you'll come back with us."

Aimi's eyes were still large with confusion, "Where?"

Temari clapped her palm against her forehead, "I am so dumb! Sorry, let me explain. Ok, so my brother has this horse that's a total crazy-ass and none of our horse masters can train him or even get near him! So my other, idiot brother Kankurou had this idea…"

Temari finished her tale of Kaen, and Kankurou's bright idea several minutes later. Aimi's eyes had gone back to their normal size, but she still retained a slightly perplexed look on her face. Kumo had recovered from his earlier minor shock and was contentedly eating the grass once more.

"So that's the situation," Temari said, "And I was going to the Waterfall Village to find this 'great horse master', who I now know is you! So what do you say? Will you come back to the Suna with us?"

Aimi appeared to be thinking. She had her eyes turned down to the ground, and she was shredding another grass blade. She occasionally glanced over at Kumo, or up at the velvety night sky. She then closed her eyes for a moment. When she opened them, she replied, "Alright. I'll go with you and see what I can do."

"Yes!" Temari thrust a fist into the air victoriously, once more startling Kumo with her outburst.

"But I have to bring the kids with me; they have nowhere else to go."

"That's fine! I'm sure that they'll find plenty to do in the desert, besides try to commit highway robbery, that is. How soon can you leave?"

"I can be ready by tomorrow morning." Aimi replied.

"Great!" Temari squealed.

"We'll come and find you so that you don't have to worry about finding _us_." Aimi rose, brushed the pieces of torn grass from her pants, and started towards her cloudy white horse.

The sand kunoichi also rose. "Alright, I'll see you tomorrow then."

Aimi nodded, then lightly sprang up onto her mount's bare back, whispered a few indistinguishable words into his ear, and trotted away across the moonlight-flooded field, her long, dark hair billowing out behind her like a storm cloud.


	7. Chapter 7

**A Flame in the Desert**

**-7-**

**Heading Home**

True to her word, Aimi appeared the next morning, riding double with Puchi on Kumo, the two boys tailing the horse. Temari was close to ecstatic that she had not only succeeded in her quest to find the famous horse master of the Waterfall Village, but that she had saved a total of four extra days of traveling, since Aimi had been so conveniently traveling through the Grass Village.

"Is everyone ready to leave?" Temari called out so that everyone in the traveling party could hear her. She was met with affirmative responses. "Thank God," she mumbled to herself, "I cannot wait to get back home."

She mounted Taizen, who was waiting patiently, as always. Aimi moved Kumo up so that she could ride side-by-side with the sand kunoichi. Hogosha and Kyoukou seemed content to simply walk alongside their guardian. Temari noticed that they were deeply engrossed in some sort of "I spy" game, and she figured that this ability to amuse themselves arose from being used to many, many long trips during which they only had each other for company and entertainment.

"What's it like in the desert?" Puchi suddenly piped up, her big brown eyes searching Temari's blue-green ones inquiringly.

"Well, it's pretty hot during the day, but it's all dry heat, not humidity, so it's not too bad as long as you wear the right clothes and don't stay out in the sun for too long. But it gets very cold at night…"

"Really? The desert can be cold?" Puchi asked in amazement.

Temari laughed at the mystified little girl, "I know, it's hard to believe right? But you'll understand it better once you're there and you actually experience it."

"Is there an ocean nearby?"

The sandy-blond shook her head, "No, there's no ocean for hundreds of miles; just sand."

The little girl looked puzzled, "I thought that there had to be an ocean where there's lots of sand?"

"That's only if you're on a beach, Puchi," Aimi interjected, "We're going to the desert, which is very different from the beach."

"Oh." Realization dawned on the child. Having had one set of questions answered to her satisfaction, she began asking a fresh set. "Why are we going to the desert again?"

"It's a business trip, just like all the other trips we make." Aimi replied.

"So we're gonna see some horsies?" Puchi went on excitedly.

Aimi nodded. "That's right. Desert horses. You've never seen desert horses before."

"Are the desert horses made out of sand?"

Temari laughed. "If only they were, then my brother could control his horse!"

"You have a brother too?"

"I have two brothers," Temari held up the appropriate number of fingers, emphasizing her claim. "Just like you."

"Are they older than you, too?"

She shook her sandy-blond head, "No, they're both younger than me."

"What are their names?"

"Kankurou is the older one and Gaara is the younger one."

Puchi laughed. "Those are funny names!" Temari couldn't help laughing along with the young girl.

Aimi looked over at Temari, her pale blue eyes looking slightly reproachful. "You never told me that the Kazekage was your brother."

"I didn't? Oh, sorry. I guess I did forget," Temari looked at the black-haired girl with some alarm, "It's not a problem, is it?" she asked tentatively.

Aimi shook her head. "I'm just going to deal with the horse." She remained silent after that.

For Puchi, however, this discovery opened up a whole new slew of questions that were put to Temari.

"What's a Kaz-Kazeekaga?" she asked falteringly.

Temari giggled. "A _Kazekage_ is the title that we give to the leader of our people in the desert. He's in charge of everything and everyone in the Village."

Puchi's eyes widened. "Really? Everything and everyone?"

Temari nodded.

The small girl looked astonished for a moment longer, before a wide grin cracked her face. "Except for you, cuz you're his _big_ sister, right?"

This caused the sand kunoichi to laugh loudly for several seconds. "Unfortunately, even I have to listen to him. But he's usually pretty nice to me and our brother Kankurou, and he doesn't boss us around too much."

"My brothers _always_ boss me around," Puchi said begrudgingly, crossing her small arms over her chest.

"They're just looking out for you. They're good brothers," Temari replied.

The sand kunoichi and the brown-eyed little girl carried on with their small talk, for several hours. Finally, the child fell asleep in the arms of her guardian, who hadn't said anything since finding out that she was going to attempt to tame the Kazekage's horse. Temari wondered at her silence; it was true that Aimi didn't seem like the type to talk someone's ear off, but she sensed that the blue-eyed horse master was being quieter than normal. Her suspicions grew when she saw the two boys glancing at her warily every so often.

"Is something wrong?" Temari asked quietly, so as not to wake the sleeping child in Aimi's arms.

Aimi snapped out of an apparent daze and looked over at the blond. "Oh, no, not really. I'm just thinking, that's all."

"Are you sure?" Temari ventured, "You seem kinda out of it."

Aimi nodded, her long black hair swaying as she did. "Really, I'm fine. I was just remembering the last time I saw a desert horse; it was when my father was alive, a client had bought one at a sale, but he couldn't handle it, so he brought the horse to my father," She smiled at the distant memory, "My father always told me that the desert horses are the hardest to handle because they're made from wind and sand and fire, some of the harshest elements in existence and the hardest to harness and control. But he also said that once the horses were tamed, a rider couldn't ask for a finer mount. I remember that horse so perfectly; it was a young stallion, the color of tarnished gold. I'd never seen such a spirited, beautiful animal, and I can honestly say that I haven't seen one since."

"Kumo is a pretty horse," Temari offered. The cloud-white horse sighed, as if appreciating the compliment.

"Kumo is a pretty horse," Aimi agreed, "But he doesn't have that fierce streak that can only be found in the desert horses. For some reason, their wildness adds to their beauty. I had no trouble believing my father when he told me that sand, wind and fire composed that horse; it was almost like I could _see_ the elements in him," she laughed quietly, "Father had quite a time with that horse. I don't think he'd ever taken as long to accomplish what he did with another horse as he did with that one. But once the horse learned to respect my father, he was easy to teach; he was such a smart horse. HHHHis master came for him that week and never had a problem with him afterwards."

"Just like that?" Temari asked.

Aimi nodded. "Just like that. It's almost like something just clicks, and they understand that you're not trying to dominate them, just asking them for their cooperation. After that it's usually pretty easy, you're just teaching them what the various verbal and physical commands mean."

"Huh," Temari pondered over this, wondering if it would work for Kaen. She had no doubt in the young girl's abilities, but Kaen wasn't like other horses. He was the poster child for the desert horses that Aimi's father had described; when you looked at Kaen, you _could_ see the harsh, gritty desert sand, and the furious, biting wind, and the overpowering, raging fire moving through his body. She hoped that Aimi would be able to bring the colt under control, because if she couldn't, the blond could only imagine the fury that her youngest brother would unleash upon God-knew-who.

_Speaking of which_, she thought, _I wonder what Gaara will think of her. I think that he was expecting this "great horse master" to be a man. All of the Suna's horse masters are men, after all. This meeting should be interesting…_

She wondered if Kankurou had known that he would be sending her off in search of a young girl when he had first suggested that they bring the "great Waterfall Village horse master" to the Suna. Perhaps he had been thinking of Aimi's father?

The ride through the Rain Village had been uneventful, thankfully. However, the weather had been unpleasant the entire way. There had been torrential downpour on the first evening after crossing the border. Temari and the others from the desert weren't quite sure how to handle it, much less sleep in it. The next morning, there was still water in the air, but it was more mist-like, as though a cloud had descended and they were now immersed in the center of it. Temari, who had barely slept all night, went through her morning routine mechanically, saddling Taizen and climbing up into the saddle.

She looked over at Kumo, noticing that the white horse almost seemed to blend in with the mist, and perceived – with a slight degree of annoyance – that Aimi, Puchi, Hogosha and Kyoukou seemed perfectly rested and eager to continue their journey. Obviously, they were nowhere near as affected by the beating rainstorm the night before as she had been.

She sighed, and, once they were on the move, allowed her eyelids to droop as she was lulled into a light doze by Taizen's steady, rhythmic walk.

They made better time on the return journey; it only took them eight whole days and the better part of a ninth day before the sand kunoichi finally beheld her native village once again.

She sighed in relief and was suddenly given a second wind that allowed her to urge her gelding forward into a spry trot across the sand, and enter the village at a steady canter. Once she had made it inside the gates, she stopped her horse, jumped off of his back, and threw herself on the ground, kissing the sand beneath her feet and uttering her thanks to a higher being.

"Thank Kami! I thought it would be ten years before I ever saw this place again!"

Some villagers who were nearby witnessing the Kazekage's sister's strange behavior began to mutter amongst themselves that maybe she contracted some sort of foreign disease that makes you lose your mind. However, their attention was quickly turned upon the entrance of a cantering cloud-white horse ridden by two black-haired girls, and two young boys running alongside it effortlessly.

Aimi, Puchi and the boys stared around at the buildings, the people, and the various stands in the small market place. Puchi seemed a little overwhelmed by the intense change in scenery, and pressed her back closer against Aimi, who crossed an arm over the little girl protectively. Hogosha and Kyoukou stood closely next to either one of Kumo's front legs, although Kyoukou, being the older of the two males, wore a face that seemed made to warn off any strangers.

_Always the protector,_ Temari thought to herself. She got up off of the ground, picked up Taizen's reins and said to the young horse master, "Come on, I'll show you the stables where you can keep Kumo, and then I'll introduce you to my brother and Kaen."

Aimi nodded; Kumo followed Taizen and Temari all the way down to the stables, earning plenty of stares and exclamations from villagers on the way.

When they reached the stables, it was Shinbou who greeted them first. "Lady Temari! Welcome back! Your mission was a success, I take it?"

"Indeed it was, thank you. Now, I need you to look after our horses," the blond handed Taizen's reins over to the Suna horse master, who began affectionately stroking the glossy gelding's face and softly speaking to him.

Aimi took the hint and dismounted, reaching up to take Puchi in her arms once she had both of her feet on the ground. She set the tiny girl down and walked over to her steed's head. She whispered some words into his ear that neither Temari nor Shinbou could make out. But the horse nickered and bobbed his head, as though to say that he understood whatever it was that his rider was asking of him. Then Aimi turned her hazy blue eyes to Shinbou, "His name's Kumo. He'll behave for you as long as you treat him well."

Shinbou didn't realize that this was the horse master of the Waterfall Village. He thought that the girl was simply one of Lady Temari's friends, but he didn't want to be disrespectful. "Absolutely, my lady. I can assure you that he shall have the best care we can offer."

"Thank you," Aimi nodded in appreciation.

"Alright, are you ready to meet everyone?"

The girl shrugged, "I guess I'm as ready as I'll ever be." She took one of Puchi's hands in her own, while Hogosha took Aimi's other hand, and Kyoukou took Puchi's loose hand.

Temari led the way back through the village to the tall building that housed Gaara's office. She was feeling a little anxious about this meeting; she hoped that her brother wasn't a total asshole to the girl. Not after she had bothered to make the trip all the way here, and before he even got a chance to see her abilities.

She also hoped that Kankurou would be mature about it and not hit on Aimi 24/7, although she knew that the chances of him leaving the pretty horse master alone were slim-to-none. _Why couldn't I have had sisters?_ She wondered, as they began their ascent up the long staircase that would bring them to the Kazekage's door.

They finally reached their destination, but before going in, Temari turned to the group and said, "Now, my brother might come off as being really rude and a little scary at first, but I promise that he's not so bad after a while, and he would _never_ hurt any of you, alright?" She spoke mostly for the kids' benefit, but she had looked at Aimi as well, letting the girl know that she shouldn't be discouraged if she wasn't instantly greeted with open arms.

The black-haired horse master nodded in understanding. Temari knocked three times before turning the handle and pushing the door open.


	8. Chapter 8

**Wow! Fastest update EVER!!! I told you that I would be working on this thing constantly, and that's just what I've been doing! **

**Also, as I mentioned at the end of my profile notes, I've been working on a side project as well that I am posting the first chapter of, so go check it out and let me know what you think!**

**As always, read and review! Thanks!**

**-Keita**

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**A Flame in the Desert**

**-8-**

**Benefit of the Doubt**

The small group entered the office warily. Puchi was pressed firmly to Aimi's side, while the boys stayed close, but allowed their eyes to wander, taking in the exotic weapons and pieces of art on display. Aimi also let herself look curiously around the room, but she stopped when her eyes found their target: the Kazekage.

He was at his desk, fervently scribbling something in a huge, leather-bound book. He glanced up when he heard Temari shut the door behind her. Aimi instantly felt the kids recoil towards her, like metal to a magnet, when they saw his fierce eyes turned in their direction.

Temari took the lead and walked over to stand in front of her brother's desk; Aimi picked up the begging Puchi in her arms and followed Temari, with Hogosha holding the back pocket of her pants and Kyoukou following at her side closely, trying hard not to show his intimidation. The horse master found her pale blue eyes meeting with the sea-green ones of the Kazekage.

Gaara set his pen down and spoke to his sister, still not taking his eyes from the girl's in front of him, locked in some sort of staring contest. "Welcome back Temari. How was the trip?"

"Miserable!" Temari began, "The desert was freaking hot as hell, and I was sore from riding for the first four days! And then it was just ridiculously humid in the Rain Village and I couldn't do a thing with my hair and then…"

The redhead interrupted, clearly already having understood that Temari had been unhappy for the greater part of the journey. "Who is this?" he asked, his eyes still locked with Aimi's.

The horse master didn't falter; keeping her own eyes firmly on the Kazekage's.

"Oh, right, I guess introductions are in order," Temari realized. "Aimi, kids, this is my brother, Sabaku No Gaara, the Kazekage of the Suna. Gaara, this is Uma No Aimi and her siblings, Kyoukou, Hogosha and Puchi," the blond pointed out each of the four as she introduced them. "Aimi is the horse master from the Waterfall Village who's going to be in charge of Kaen's training."

"Really?" Gaara said, a small smirk playing at his lips, "Is that true?" he asked Aimi.

The girl nodded. "Yes, it's true to my understanding."

Gaara stood up and walked to the other side of the desk, where his sister, Aimi and the children stood. Temari backed up a few steps, Puchi hugged her guardian tightly, shutting her eyes fearfully and burying her face in the older girl's shoulder, and the boys backed up so that they were standing behind the older girl. Only Aimi stood her ground firmly, still not releasing her hold on the redhead's eyes.

He paused in front of her, still staring into her foggy blue eyes with his sea-green ones. He only tore his gaze away to look her up and down scrutinizingly. When he was finished with his inspection, he looked at her face again. "You don't look like much of a horse master."

At his words, Kyoukou poked his head around his guardian's leg to glare evilly at the man in front of him. However, Aimi seemed unfazed by his comment. She replied coolly, "Well, you don't look like much of a Kazekage," Temari's jaw dropped at her comment, and Gaara looked totally taken aback, like he wanted to be angry, but was just so caught off-guard that he couldn't react fast enough. But before anything could be done by anyone, Aimi added, "But I've heard good things, so I'll give you the benefit of the doubt; I hope that you're willing to do the same for me."

With those words being said, Temari looked down at her shoes and bit her lip to keep her smile from widening. That was one thing that she admired about the younger girl: her ability to defend herself and speak what was on her mind, no matter who she was speaking to.

Kyoukou grinned devilishly from his place behind Aimi's leg, as though saying, _Ha! Serves you right!_

Gaara still stared at her with astonished eyes. He had **never** been spoken to that way; no one had ever been brave enough to speak to him like that. Still, though, he refused to show that he was impressed. "Well, since you're the only one willing to deal with Kaen, I guess that I'll just have to accept your services."

Aimi did a little half-bow and said coldly, "Thank you Kazekage-sama. I appreciate your confidence in my abilities."

_Oh great,_ Temari thought, _They already hate each other. This is gonna be a looooong ordeal._

"Right then!" the blond kunoichi broke in, drawing the heated stares of both her brother and the horse master. "Should we introduce Aimi to Kaen?"

Gaara walked back to his chair on the opposite side of his desk and began shuffling through his paperwork again. "Do as you like," he said to his sister with a dismissive wave of his hand.

Temari, however, was having none of it. "Oh no! Uh-uh! Gaara, I just spent _nineteen days_ on a hellish journey to bring this girl back to train _your_ problematic horse! I am tired! I want to take a real shower! I want to sleep in my bed for about a week straight! I have training to catch up on! I do not have time to be messing around with your horse! If you want her to train Kaen, then you will be taking care of everything that it entails! As of now, my mission is complete; I am washing my hands of this matter! Good luck!" And with that, the sandy blond stomped out of the office, leaving Aimi and the kids staring after her, and her brother with his aching head in his hand.

"Well?" the red-haired man lifted his black-rimmed eyes to the horse master's lovely blue ones once more.

"Well what?" he responded, annoyed.

"Should we go and get acquainted with your horse?"

He sighed in exasperation and sat back in his chair. She shifted the small girl to her other hip. He marveled at how calm and collected she looked. Her outward demeanor said that she could have stood there all day; she was that stubborn and patient.

_It must be from working with all those horses; I hear it does that to people,_ he thought. He noticed that the children were becoming restless, though trying their best to hide it.

"Fine," he finally said, standing once again, "Let's go."

He led the way out of the office doors and down the stairs, so that they were standing in the streets once more. He had a long stride; Aimi had moved Puchi onto her back so that she could keep up with him more easily, and the boys had broken into light jogs.

They walked through the busy part of the village, people nodding to their leader in every direction, and looking at the Waterfall Villagers with interested expressions, and out towards the area where the village began to give way to the wilder part of the desert. They came to the top of a sand dune that overlooked the training barn, which was completely different from the barn which Temari had taken her to earlier. This barn was smaller than the other; Aimi guessed that it was so because there were a smaller number of horses housed there. The other barn was for all of the horses that were already trained and were ridden constantly. This barn also had areas that were obviously for training, such as the round pen, and a few fenced-in arenas. Aimi could see the masters and trainers working with horses in all of them.

She also noticed a large paddock with a single horse in it. She couldn't see the horse very well from where they were currently standing, so she started down the dune.

Gaara was slightly annoyed at the girl's forwardness; just walking off like that as though she was in charge. He could already tell that she was going to be a problem. He quickly moved forward and had resumed the lead in no time with his ground-covering stride.

They reached the main yard of the training grounds, and Aimi and the kids were amazed at the sights. All around them, beautiful young horses that came in metallic shades were being led or being worked by trainers and horse masters. Puchi exclaimed and pointed excitedly at a dark silver filly that was dancing lightly around the trainer that held her lead rope.

"I told you they were stunning," Aimi whispered in the little girl's ear.

A man, who looked to be around forty-five or so, handed off the horse he had been holding to an assistant trainer and walked over to where the group stood. He bowed to Gaara, "Kazekage-sama, welcome. Are you here to see Kaen?"

"Yes Omo-san, I'm introducing him to his new trainer," he shifted his green eyes in Aimi's direction; the girl was still admiring the horses with the children.

"Who? That girl?" Omo seemed confused, "Pardon me, Kazekage-sama, but she doesn't seem quite…fit to deal with Kaen." He said quietly.

"You're absolutely right," Gaara said thoughtfully, still gazing at the black-haired horse master, "But, she came all this way, I'm willing to give her a chance."

Omo bowed his head respectfully. "Of course."

"Horse master, come over here," he thought that he sounded rude, but he wasn't quite sure how to address her. She walked over anyways. "This is Ichiban Omo. He is the head of all the horse masters here. If you have any problems or questions concerning the facilities or equipment, you can talk to him."

Aimi extended her hand to the older man. "It's a pleasure to meet you Omo-san. My name is Uma No Aimi, of the Waterfall Village."

Omo's face crinkled into a smile as he took the girl's calloused hand in his own. "You must work with horses, you have the hands to prove it."

Aimi nodded, grinning. "Yes, I've done my share of work with them."

Gaara, wanting to hurry along so that he could get rid of this girl and get back to the ever-growing stack of papers on his desk, started heading towards the paddock. "And this," he said, gesturing towards the fenced area, "Is Kaen."

Aimi walked over to where the Kazekage stood, which was about seven feet from the fence, followed by the boys and Omo, Puchi still on her back. She set the small girl down and indicated to all three children to remain put while she walked closer to the fence. She stood looking out at the flat sand that made up the footing of the paddock, but the sound of rapid hoof beats coming at her from the right made her turn. The most beautiful and wild-looking colt she had ever seen was galloping, full speed, right at her.

Kaen slid to a halt right in front of the girl, snorting and shrieking fiercely. He reared up and struck out with his front legs in her direction, yet she didn't back down. He set his front feet on the ground again and leaned his neck over the top fence board, his ears pinned flat against his skull, his teeth bared, and lashed out at her.

Aimi didn't normally hit horses, especially not in the face – her father had taught her that it was a sure way to make a horse head-shy and fearful – but she had to make an exception today. Kaen was really going to bite her; _hard_. She had to show him that not only was she not backing down from him, but that she wasn't afraid to punish his uncivil behavior. So when she could feel his hot breath on her arm, she reached out and gave him an open-handed smack right on his cheek. It wasn't a very hard smack, her palm didn't even sting afterwards, but it was definitely a shock to the young horse, who immediately withdrew.

_Good_, she thought, _Point made._

Kaen stood stock still for a few seconds, registering what had just happened. The ebony-haired girl still had her unwavering blue eyes fixed on the colt; their stares were locked, much like hers and Gaara's had been just before. Kaen flared his nostrils a few times…and then turned and galloped away, throwing his head and kicking out as he always did.

"Well that went well," Gaara said, sarcasm edging his words.

"Yes it did," Aimi agreed, completely serious. "He knows that I'm not afraid of him and that I'm not putting up with any of his shit. Sorry," she said as the three young kids gasped at her language.

"So, what? He's going to obey your every command now?"

"No, far from it. Now he's going to test me even more; see how far he has to push me before I'll break. I'm a threat to his dominance, so he's challenging me. I can tell you right now that this is going to take a long time."

Gaara sighed and rubbed his closed eyes. "But do you think you can do it?" he asked the girl standing before him.

She nodded. "Yeah, I think I can."

His harsh sea-green eyes snapped open again, "Then do it." He said.


	9. Chapter 9

**Alright, everyone, here's another chapter full of harsh stares, glares, eye-locking and staring! Hahaha! Enjoy it! **

**As always R&R! I love it when you do:D**

**-Keita**

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**A Flame in the Desert**

**-9-**

**Face-to-Face With the Devil**

Temari had spent five heavenly days in her apartment sleeping, showering and eating. Once she felt rejuvenated enough to venture out into the village again, she headed towards her younger brother's office. She was actually looking for Aimi, but she figured that since she had left the girl with Gaara, he would have some idea of where she was.

She took the stairs two at a time, and was standing in her brother's office in no time; but he wasn't there. However, much to the blond's dismay, Kankurou was there.

"Hey sis! Welcome home!" he said obnoxiously, coming to hug her.

She violently pushed him away, refusing to accept his embrace; she still hadn't forgiven him for abandoning her when she had gone with Shinbou to speak with Gaara about Kaen.

Kankurou just laughed. "Well, that's a fine way to greet your favorite brother!"

"You're hardly my favorite," Temari snapped, "What are you doing here anyways? Where's Gaara?"

Kankurou became more serious at the mention of their missing sibling. "I was just wondering that myself. Last I heard, he was down at the training grounds. You wanna go check it out?"

Temari shrugged. "Yeah, I guess. What else are we gonna do?"

The brother-sister pair made their way through the heart of the village and to the outskirts where the training grounds were located. They scanned the area from the top of the sand dune overlooking the grounds, and sure enough, they caught sight of their youngest brother's flaming red hair.

He was sitting in the sand near the paddock that held his precious colt, watching the scene that was occurring in front of him. Aimi was in the paddock, standing still, just watching the furious colt racing around her.

Kaen was putting on quite a show, tearing across his paddock like a wildfire, kicking up his back legs, and striking out with his front. He snorted and rolled his fiery eyes. A few times he came in very close to Aimi, making it seem as though he was going to trample her if she didn't move. But the girl knew better; she stood her ground, even when the colt came in so close that the fibers of his onyx tail brushed her arm when he continued past her.

Kankurou and Temari made their way down the dune to where their brother sat.

"What's going on here?" Temari asked, shielding her eyes against the harsh sunlight so that she could better see the paddock's occupants.

"She's 'getting a feel for him'," Gaara explained, quoting what the girl had told him earlier when she had first decided to cross the fence.

"'She'? Who's 'she'?" Kankurou asked eagerly.

"The horse master, from the Waterfall Village, the one that _you_ sent me to get," Temari explained, "Her name is Aimi and yes, she's a woman."

"Really?" Kankurou's face was full of pleased surprise. "Is she hot?"

Temari rolled her eyes, and, ignoring his idiotic question, asked her redheaded brother, "Where are the kids?"

"Omo-san took them off to see the other horses," he answered.

"And they actually went?" Temari was shocked. She hadn't expected any of the three children leave their guardian's side; she recalled how they had stuck to her like glue when they first arrived. It was hard for her to believe that the older horse master had managed to convince them to separate from her so soon.

Gaara nodded in response to his sister's question. "She insisted on it." He said, nodding towards the girl in the paddock.

Temari took a seat on the warm sand next to her youngest brother and watched as Kaen flew by Aimi again.

The girl's long black ponytail whipped back in the wind created by the colt's dashing about, and a few loose strands blew across her face. Gaara could just make out her blue eyes behind the light curtain of her jet hair.

Kaen finally stopped, just several feet in front of the horse master. Gaara noticed then how they clashed; Aimi, with her foggy blue eyes and lighter skin seemed so calm and cool, while the colt, with his glistening molten coat and burning eyes was all temper and fire.

The young horse was sweating and heaving and glaring at the expressionless girl with what could be defined as annoyance. He obviously didn't understand her; why didn't she run like all the others? Who did she think she was? Didn't she realize that he could hurt her so easily? But he wouldn't. She wasn't afraid of him, not intimidated in the least. She had proven that to him when she had smacked him during their first encounter. He could feel that no matter how furiously he carried on rampaging about, screaming and stomping, her confidence wouldn't be shaken.

Finally, after about five minutes of the two drastically different beings staring, unblinking, at each other, the magnificent colt lowered his perfectly formed head and slowly walked to where the girl stood. He stopped in front of her, his head still lowered. She held out her hand, with her palm facing outward, and gently placed it on his forehead, between his glistening eyes. The horse shuddered, his nostrils flared slightly, but he made no other move.

Aimi's blue eyes pierced Kaen's black ones as she locked gazes with him. She moved her hand slowly from his forehead to the side of his face, lifting her other hand to hold the other side of his face as well.

The three sand siblings gasped in shock at the Waterfall girl's actions, but they were more surprised at the ferocious colt's reaction, or rather, lack of. Gaara especially was watching closely, his sea-green eyes focused intently on the pair.

Aimi began to whisper to the flaming colt, the same way that Temari had seen her whisper to Kumo on several occasions. The kunoichi wondered what she said to the horses when she whispered like that.

Kaen's ears flickered backwards and forwards, indicating that Aimi's words were having some sort of effect on him. His skin shivered. The girl began gently stroking his smooth cheek, still whispering to him.

The three Suna ninja sitting in the sand were mesmerized by the sight before them. Like the horse, none of them could tear their eyes away from the captivating young woman.

Finally, Aimi ceased her whispering, and turned, walking towards the gate of the paddock, where a halter and lead rope had been placed earlier. To the amazement of the three siblings, Kaen followed her at a leisurely walk with his head still hung. He made no indication that he was going to act up in any way as Aimi slid the leather halter up over his muzzle and behind his ears, clipping it on the side, below his eye. She picked up the lead rope from the fence post and hooked it onto the metal ring hanging from the halter under Kaen's chin.

With that being done, the girl opened the paddock gate and walked out, the formerly turbulent colt following her obediently, as though there had never been a problem to begin with.

_I win today,_ she thought, wondering what the next day's challenge would be.


	10. Chapter 10

**Here ya go, everyone! Enjoy the chapter! R&R as always! **

**-Keita **

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**A Flame in the Desert**

**-10-**

**Tests of Authority**

Aimi had been awakened by one of the grooms gently shaking her shoulder. She opened one of her light blue eyes to look at the anxious young boy before her.

"What's wrong?" she asked sleepily.

"Omo-san asked me to wake you. He said that the Kazekage's horse is going to tear down the barn if you don't do something to calm him."

"Oh, I see," Aimi sat up and picked a piece of hay out of her long black hair. She had been sleeping in the hay loft for the past week, despite Temari's insistence that she have a real bed, and Kankurou's generous offer to share his own bed with her. The horse master said that she preferred sleeping in the hay to a bed because she would be too hot, even during the near-freezing nights; the hay would keep her warm without stifling her.

However, she had made the kids go with Temari to sleep in beds, quieting their protests by saying that they wouldn't be able to sleep while in the hay loft, and she didn't feel like dealing with their cranky selves.

As soon as she reached the top of the stairs that led down to the ground floor of the barn, she could hear Kaen's furious screams and banging that could only mean that he was kicking the walls that were confining him.

It was still early; the sun hadn't risen yet, but it wasn't totally dark out. Aimi stifled a yawn as she walked down the aisle of young horses to where the colt was being kept.

He was going to town trying to force his way out of the stall. He was bucking, kicking the wall behind him **hard** with his strong hind legs; Aimi could see spots where he'd already tried chewing away some of the wood, and lots of dents and marks from his tough hooves striking the walls.

"What is the matter with you?" she muttered to the horse as she slid the bolt of the stall door, opening it.

Upon hearing the door of his prison open, the colt spun around, only to find himself face-to-face with that damned black-haired girl. He wanted to get out of that stall and outside again. He hated being cooped up and if he wasn't going to be let out by anyone else, then he would let himself out. At least that's what _he_ thought…

"Kaen!" Aimi scolded him firmly as he landed another kick on the wall.

The colt paused, looking at the girl with his ears pricked in her direction. He just as quickly pinned them down again and lifted his leg to kick again.

"Kaen!" she said again, a warning tone in her voice. "Don't." He put his foot down.

His eyes glistened impudently as he lifted the same foot again.

"Kaen, I mean it. Don't." She knew that while he might not understand her actual words, the horse understood that he was doing something that he shouldn't be, but didn't care.

Finally, he delivered the impending strike to the wall.

"Alright, that's it," Aimi left the stall to grab the colt's halter and lead and returned to slip the halter on over his ears. She did it so fluidly and confidently that Kaen didn't even think to react. She opened the stall door and walked out into the aisle, holding one end of the lead rope.

Seeing this as his chance to escape, the red-gold colt practically bolted out of the stall and headed towards the barn doors. He was brought to an abrupt halt when he felt a harsh jerk on his face that nearly spun him around. He looked over his shoulder and saw the girl horse master with both of her feet planted firmly on the ground, clutching her end of the lead with both hands, looking at him with a smirk on her face.

"Where do you think you're going?" she said to him, an amused tone in her voice.

Kaen was pissed off now; he just wanted to go outside and run freely like he had before, he wanted nothing to do with people. But this girl was making that impossible. Still though, when it came down to brute strength, he knew that he was stronger than she would ever be. So he began to continue forward at a strained walk, dragging the girl on the other end of the rope.

Aimi chuckled to herself lightly; this was going to be fun. She stopped dragging her feet and walked forward to catch up with the colt, who was momentarily distracted by the sudden lack of resistance on her end. She took this opportunity to move so that she stood directly in front of him, looping the slack in the lead line as she did, effectively shortening it.

"Back up," she instructed the colt, taking a step forward and placing her free hand on his chest and putting some pressure on him so that he got the idea.

Kaen snorted, incensed at her attempt to keep him from achieving his goal, and he attempted to rear up.

He had barely gotten his front feet off of the ground than Aimi straightened and gave the lead line a sharp tug, pulling the colt's front end back down to the ground. "Now back up," she said, repeating the process again.

The fiery colt tried again to discourage the annoyingly persistent girl by rearing up on her, but was met with the same sharp pull back to earth.

"Back up," she said again, calmly but firmly, her hand exerting pressure on his chest again. This time, he moved backwards one step. Aimi immediately ceased her gentle pushing and gave him one quick stroke on his muscular neck. "That's a boy," she praised him.

She continued backing the colt down the aisle, occasionally needing to tug the lead rope to dissuade him from rearing on her. They moved slowly, but when they finally reached Aimi's intended destination - which was the saddling area and also where most of the training equipment was kept – she patted Kaen's shoulder and offered a few words of praise. He seemed to settle a bit; she figured that he liked the soft pats and strokes that he received for behaving well.

She reached out for something hanging on a hook on the wall; it was a pair of hobbles, made for a horse's rear legs. Kaen looked at her curiously.

"Let's go," she began to walk back towards the young horse's beaten stall, he followed her obediently until he saw her walk into the confining box again.

He planted his feet and began to pull backwards, looking again towards the doors at the end of the aisle that would lead to his freedom.

Aimi turned her eyes up to the stubborn colt. "Kaen," she said in a low voice that stopped the young horse in his tracks and turn his eyes to her attentively. "Come on."

Kaen seemed unsure of whether or not he wanted to resume fighting, or obey the girl's gentle command. Aimi waited, never tearing her blue eyes from the glistening colt, while he decided what course of action he was going to take.

For a second, she thought that he was going to come quietly, which she realized was ridiculous to hope for. She saw the fire flare up in his eyes as he threw up his head, did a half-rear and began backing away from the stall entrance quickly.

She threw down the set of hobbles, freeing up her other hand, which she used to grip the lead rope tightly. She allowed herself to be half-dragged out of the stall and into the aisle.

Kaen began making a desperate attempt to free himself; he started to twist and jump, doing anything to make Aimi loosen her hold on the lead line. But the girl held on resolutely.

Finally, after nearly five minutes, the colt stopped, facing the young horse master, panting after exerting himself so much.

She gave him that amused look again, "Are you finished?" He huffed. "Good, now come on." She walked back towards the stall, and when he hesitated again, she wasted no time in spinning and backing the colt so that his rear end entered the stall first. She did it so quickly that Kaen didn't even realize what was happening until Aimi was sliding the bolt of the stall door back into place, locking them both in.

He considered throwing another tantrum, but the look that she gave him as she walked around him, allowing her hand to slide along his silken body, told him that it would do him more harm than good.

She stooped to retrieve the hobbles from the spot on the ground where she had tossed them earlier. She stroked the colt's shining flank, letting him know that she was standing there, and continued the action all the way down to his fetlock, right above his hoof. Once she had done this, she proceeded to put one of the hobbles around his foot, buckling the strap.

Kaen turned his head to look down at the black head that was at his hind leg. He felt something strange around his foot, and he lifted it and kicked out, not violently, but more to try and shake off whatever was making him uncomfortable.

Aimi took his long, black tail in her hand and pulled it toward her, forcing Kaen to put his foot down if he wanted to keep himself from falling over.

Once he had his foot firmly on the ground again, the girl moved to the opposite leg and buckled the second hobble around that foot as well. Satisfied with her work, she straightened and gave him a pat on his flank.

She went up to his head and looked him straight in the face. "Now, I don't wanna hear any more of your complaining, got it?" She slid the stall door bolt and let herself out, closing and relocking it behind her.

The angry look returned to Kaen's face, and he went to lift a hind foot so that he could kick the back wall again. However, when he did, he nearly pulled his other leg out from underneath him. He recovered and looked at his hind end, not completely understanding what had just happened.

Aimi chuckled, watching him as he tried to figure it out. "Go ahead, try it again."

The horse snorted and picked up the other back leg, and again was nearly tripped by his own action.

"Like I said," Kaen turned his attention to the blue-eyed girl again as she spoke to him, "I don't want to hear any more fussing from you. You're going to live in a barn like a civil horse and you're going to behave like one too. Now, I'm going back to sleep."

With that, she turned on her heel and headed back to the hay loft, leaving the colt glaring after her.


	11. Chapter 11

**Happy Holidays everyone!!!! Here's a present to all of my fabulous readers!!! I hope you enjoy it:D**

**Also, if you are following my other story, "The Sum of Black and White", I've added another chapter of that as well! So happy reading!!!**

**-Keita**

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**A Flame in the Desert**

**-11-**

**Drifting Thoughts**

The Kazekage couldn't concentrate. He could barely get through two sentences on the documents he was supposed to be reading over before his thoughts were whisked away. He could catch glimpses of his colt's shimmering red-gold coat and Aimi's jet-black hair from his office window, could hear the sounds from the horses and their trainers, and it was driving him insane.

Ever since she had arrived, Gaara had wanted to just drop everything else and watch as this girl, supposedly a "great horse master", turned his colt from a feral beast into a respectable riding horse.

He had his doubts; the girl was nothing special. She was about the same height and build as his sister, but with slightly more defined muscles in her arms and legs; her hands were rough and calloused, but then again, so were the grooms' and stable workers'; and those damned kids she brought with her! Who the hell did she think she was, anyways, some saint lady who adopted orphans and tamed wild beasts?! It aggravated him to no end.

He had seen the kids running around with Omo on the training grounds, or riding on the white horse that they brought with them. Temari and Kankurou seemed to take a strong liking to them, and often guided them on little excursions around the village and the desert.

He had to admit that the oldest boy, the one with black hair and green eyes, was quite something. The kid was pretty tough, and took his duties as the oldest male very seriously. He was always looking out for his brother and sister, and even Aimi, when he felt she needed looking after. Gaara remembered when he had first met them, how the boy had looked at him defiantly and had almost seemed ready to jump on him and throttle him right then and there for disrespecting his beloved guardian. The redhead had no doubt that with some training and some growth spurts, the boy could be quite a formidable opponent.

The other two, however, weren't so apparently promising. The other boy, with the brown hair, seemed like the type that would grow up to be strong and smart, but nothing really special; just a mediocre ninja, if he decided to be a ninja at all. Gaara could easily see the boy following Aimi into the horse business, or else doing something else – maybe farming – that allowed him to use his strength, but in a more peaceable manner.

The little girl was just flat out weak. He felt a little guilty for thinking this harsh thought, but knew that it was true nonetheless. She was adorable, there was no denying it, but cuteness didn't get you very far in a world where value was measured by strength and ability. But she was still very young, and so he decided to use Aimi's philosophy and give the child the benefit of the doubt; for all he knew, she could grow up to be the strongest ninja in the history of the world.

He heard an equine scream and he was yanked out of his "what-if" thoughts only to have them dragged back out to the training grounds and his colt.

Realizing that he was going to accomplish absolutely nothing while he was so distracted, he slammed the leather bound folder that contained the papers he had been reading – or rather, _trying_ to read – and he got up from his desk, walked out of his office, down the stairs and out to the training grounds.

As he stood at the top of the dune and looked down at the scene below, he noticed the cloud-white horse, holding the three children on his back, standing patiently next to Omo, who was leaning on the second tallest bar of the round pen.

The Waterfall horse master was in the round pen with the fiery colt; she had the long lunge rope attached to the horse's halter, and had him moving at a long-strided trot in a circle of which she was the center, holding the other end of the rope.

The young Kazekage made his way down to where the rest of the observers stood. Kumo turned his head to see who had joined them, then turned his attention back to his rider and the colt. The children stole quick glances at Gaara; Kyoukou let his wary gaze linger on him for a second longer before wrapping an arm protectively around his baby sister, who was sitting in front of him on the white horse and shifting his eyes back to his guardian.

"So, how's it going?" Gaara asked Omo, nodding towards the girl and the red-gold horse as he did.

"Well, when she first brought him out, he threw his normal temper tantrum, which she just let him do. It was a bit ridiculous on his part though; he was charging around this way and that, throwing his head, bucking…the usual. But she let him carry on and, wouldn't you know it, he got himself so worked up that he didn't have enough energy left to fight with her when she actually asked him to do something," Omo was smiling, proudly, it seemed. "And now, as you can see, she's got him going pretty well. He's actually listening and figuring out what her verbal commands mean. Once you quiet him down enough so that he can hear someone besides himself, he learns quickly; he's a smart horse."

Gaara watched with some amazement as Aimi had Kaen go through the first three gaits – walk, trot, canter – with control and elegance. The Kazekage was seeing the beginnings of the horse he dreamed of coming out as the flaming colt trotted past him.

After about five more minutes of work, Aimi slowed Kaen to a walk; the horse was breathing hard, flaring his nostrils, and his glossy coat was now dark with sweat. She asked him to stop and stand, which he did, turning his head so that he could keep his eyes on her.

She walked over to him slowly, holding out her hand to him. He dropped his head down far enough so that she could place her palm on his forehead. She moved closer and held his muzzle in her other hand, stroking it gently and whispering quietly into his ear.

Gaara could tell that his horse was listening to whatever it was that she was saying, because Kaen's ears flicked back and forth as the girl spoke. He was about to return to his office to make another attempt at working, when her voice stopped him.

"Kazekage-sama, wait, could you come here a minute?"

He looked over his shoulder to where she stood in the round pen; she was still delicately holding the horse's head in her hands, but her foggy blue eyes were turned towards him, as were the eyes of everyone else in the observation party.

"What for?" he asked, genuinely unsure of why _he_ would be needed.

Aimi, in her ever-understanding way, seemed aware of his confusion and replied gently, "Well, he is your horse; you are going to be his only rider when I finish training him, isn't that right?"

Gaara nodded his red head.

"So then I don't want to be the only one who knows how to handle him," Aimi continued, her eyes still on the Kazekage, "It's more important that you know what to do. That's why I need you to come over here."

It made sense; after all, what good was it if Kaen only behaved for one person, especially if said person wasn't even his rider?

Gaara turned all the way around and slowly walked to the round pen. With a sigh, he reached out to grasp one of the bars in his hands, put his foot up on the one closest to the ground, and hoisted himself up and over the fencing that separated the girl and his horse from the rest of the world.

Kaen gave a slight start when the red haired man landed with a muted _thud_ in the sand, but quieted immediately when Aimi put her hand on his neck reassuringly.

He walked over to the pair, stopping in front of them, his sea-green eyes scanning the magnificent animal and searching the face of the horse master at his side. "So what am I doing here?" he asked, realizing that he sounded rude and impatient, and laughing a bit maliciously on the inside because of it.

"I just want you to walk with him while he cools down, that's all," the girl replied, brushing a sweat-soaked strand of her jet hair from her eyes.

He noticed that the girl was dripping almost as much as the colt was; sweat soaked her hair, it ran slowly down her neck and dampened her tan tank top. For a fleeting second, he had the urge to take her lovely black hair in his fist and tilt her head to the side so that he could catch the salty beads with his tongue as they journeyed down her throat.

"Alright?" He was snapped out of his reverie as she handed over the looped up-and-therefore-shortened lunge line attached to the colt's halter.

He nodded dumbly and began to walk forward, the exhausted horse following him without complaint. As he walked, he contemplated the brief…fantasy (?) that he had just experienced.

_What the hell does it mean, having thoughts like that about her? I know I'm not in love with her, and sure, she's pretty…gorgeous, actually, but I don't wanna screw her, so I can rule out lust._ He stole a glance at her; she was still standing in the center of the circular exercising pen, watching the horse and the young man like a hawk, waiting to swoop in at the first sign of trouble. _It must be her powerful presence; she gives off a very strong aura, and I have always been attracted to strength,_ he looked over at Kaen as he admitted this to himself, _That must be it. She's strong and so I'm drawn to her naturally._

He was so busy trying to analyze his thoughts so that the solution suited his liking, that he didn't notice the mischievous look in Kaen's eyes.

The flaming colt had recovered enough from his intense workout that he felt up to picking a fight with this person, who he had seen before on occasion, but had never truly interacted with. He picked up his head more, arching his neck slightly and lifting his front legs just a little higher as he walked.

The girl horse master did notice these changes in Kaen, however, and she knew that she had to go into prevention mode, quickly. She took a couple of long strides and fell into step beside Gaara.

The horse saw the black head in front of him and immediately settled down again, knowing the owner of the ebony hair well enough to know that should he act out of place, it would mean more work for him, and while he may have had enough energy to start something with this newcomer, he had nowhere near enough to endure another session with his trainer.

Aimi smirked at the colt then looked at the young man leading him. He was looking at her with slightly shocked green eyes; she had appeared so quickly and seemingly out of nowhere. Her own blue eyes reflected his shock, surprised by it.

"What?" she asked quizzically, not knowing why he would give her such a look.

"Nothing," he said quickly, turning his eyes away.

"Is there something gross on my face? Or in my hair? Oh, God, I probably smell awful, don't I? Damn my nearly dead sense of smell," she muttered this last comment to herself, but Gaara had heard it and a tiny smile tugged at the very corner of his mouth.

They walked in silence for a few more minutes.

"Right, well, I think that this one's had enough," she stopped walking, causing Gaara and Kaen to stop as well, and scratched Kaen's neck, "You did really well with him; you didn't seem nervous at all, which is great because he needs a strong, confident rider. I'll take him back to the barn and hose him down now," she held out her hand for the lunge rope.

Gaara handed the looped rope over, unconsciously letting his hand linger for a split second longer than it needed to over her open hand. When he realized what he had done, he turned and nimbly climbed the fence out of the round pen, and headed back up the big dune towards the center of the village.

Aimi stood still, registering what had happened. Had he done it on purpose? Was she just making a big deal out of nothing? She thought back to the strange look Gaara had given her for no apparent reason other than she had simply shown up next to him.

Kaen stamped his foot impatiently. Aimi turned to the colt with an exasperated sigh and shook her head disapprovingly, "Still so rude and demanding. Well, I guess at least you're learning how to order people around without killing anybody." She walked to the gate of the round pen, opened it, and led Kaen back to the barn, while Omo went back to his own horses and the kids urged Kumo onward, hoping to find Kankurou or Temari.


	12. Chapter 12

**A Flame in the Desert**

**-12-**

**Rooftop**

Aimi shuffled to the barn slowly. She was exhausted after spending the day working in the sun and heat. Her long black hair was dripping wet; she had been at Temari's using the shower. It had been like heaven to feel the warm water coursing over her, washing away all of the sweat and sand and grime. Temari had great-smelling soap too; Aimi now smelled of desert flowers and sandalwood.

She had kissed all three of the kids goodnight, with the assurance that she would spend some quality time with them the next day.

The sun had already disappeared over the horizon, and the coolness of the night was settling in. A light breeze rustled her shirt, now also clean, and pieces of her hair that were already dry.

She approached the barn and was about to enter it and head straight for the hayloft, when she noticed how light everything was. She looked up and saw a brilliant full moon sitting heavily in the sky, illuminating the scenery so that it looked like an ocean of silver. It was absolutely breathtaking.

The girl decided that, instead of going to sleep straight away, she would sit on top of the barn and look up at the moon and stars for a little while.

She walked down the aisle of stalls, stopping to check on Kaen - who was sleeping soundly, apparently also worn out from the day's acitivities – and made her way up to the loft. From there, she crawled carefully out of the small window that was cut into the wall and onto the roof of the barn. Once again, she was so overwhelmed by the spectacular sight of the moonlight on the sand – allowing her to see for miles – that she didn't immediately notice a certain red-haired young man who had already been sitting on the roof, a little further up towards the peak where the two sides of the roof came together.

He was startled again by her sudden and unexpected appearance; she seemed to do that a lot to him: just show up out of nowhere, effectively interrupting his thoughts. He watched with amused eyes as she crawled onto the rooftop, only tearing her gaze from the full moon in the sky to make sure that her hand was on a solid piece of roof before she put her weight on it.

When she had found a comfortable spot to sit in, she pulled her knees up to her chest and turned her gaze up to the night sky. She was absolutely astounded by the flawless beauty of the moon and at the number of stars that she could see so clearly.

A breeze caught some of her fresh scent and wafted it up to him where he sat just above her. He breathed it in and smelled the aroma of the desert on her.

He had gone up to the barn roof to watch the sunset and moonrise. He knew that there would be a full moon that night, and he had wanted to do some thinking without being disturbed, which is why he had chosen to sit on the barn roof. Had he stayed in his office, he would have been bothered by all of the paperwork on his desk and he was positive that someone would come and disrupt him with stupid questions about something unimportant that the idiot who presented the question would figure out on his own anyways. They always did. He was still convinced that he employed a horde of incompetents who were unable to perform even the most menial tasks correctly.

He had also wanted to be on the barn roof because it housed the two creatures who inhabited his thoughts: Kaen and Aimi.

He was excited about Kaen; the colt was finally getting some real training put into him; he was living in the barn like all of the other horses and not running around wildly like a feral animal. Gaara didn't think it would be long before Aimi would be able to put a saddle on Kaen and begin breaking him to ride. And once that happened, he, Sabaku no Gaara, Kazekage of the Suna, would have his horse. The horse he had always dreamed of having, with burning eyes and a coat the color of blood on sand and a fighting spirit, but that was faithful to his rider. That was the horse that Kaen was going to be when Aimi was finished training him.

As far as his thoughts of Aimi were concerned, he was still very confused. He still wondered about the exceedingly sensual scenario that had popped into his head earlier and what it meant. The instant after it had happened, he had convinced himself that it was nothing but a random fleeting thought that somehow got stuck in his head, and that it meant nothing. However, now he wasn't so sure. As he watched her, sitting just yards away from him, the light, warm breeze playing with her long dark hair, he wasn't sure that he felt nothing for her.

He already knew that he was attracted to her strength and beauty; it would be hard for any man not to be. But there was something more about her that captured him, something in her light blue eyes that he had seen on the day he met her when she had engaged him in a stare down to show that she wasn't afraid of him, despite the many rumors and horror stories that she might have heard.

Maybe that was it: The fact that she was willing to get to know him for herself and not simply react to the person that she had heard about. He had seen that she had an understanding nature which allowed her to learn the habits and personality of a creature before she formed any sort of opinion about it.

He wanted to go down to her so that he could hear her voice, breathe in her scent, feel the softness of her jet hair.

He stood and slowly and almost-silently walked down to her. She didn't notice him; she was still hypnotized by the moon. He tentatively reached out and caught a floating strand of her silken hair between two fingers, letting it run smoothly through them, more liquid-like than solid.

It was only when a cloud momentarily covered the glowing orb in the sky that she was able to feel a presence behind her, and she whipped around, nearly smacking him in the face with her long black mane.

He scooted back a few inches, his eyes wary, unsure of how she would react to his close proximity. But once she realized who she was facing, she visibly relaxed.

"Oh, it's just you. You startled me, I thought I was alone up here," she said, a sheepish grin coming across her face.

"I come up here to think sometimes," he replied.

She nodded understandingly. "Yeah, this is a great place for it. I came up to watch the moon; it's so beautiful."

The cloud moved away from the moon, revealing its brilliant light again. Gaara followed Aimi's gaze up to it. They both sat in silent amazement for a few moments.

Gaara managed to tear his sea-green eyes from the moon only to rest them on Aimi's face, softened in the moonlight. He watched as light and shadow moved around, highlighting certain features; her eyes were lit up like the stars and the moonlight wove itself in and out of her hair, making it seem as though it was made of silver and onyx. Her mouth was slightly open in astonishment of the ethereal beauty of the full moon.

She turned to look at him, thinking that he was still watching the sky, and was surprised to see him gazing at her instead. Her breath caught as her hazy blue eyes connected with his intense sea-green ones yet again.

He reached out and touched his fingertips to her face gently, as though she were made of some delicate material and might shatter if she was handled to roughly.

She didn't pull away or freeze up in fear; her eyes showed surprise, that was all. She had thought that she'd figured him out: he was aloof and didn't show much emotion, unless it was anger or frustration. He cared about his brother and sister and the people of the village, but he didn't like to admit that he did, for he valued being seen as a cold, hard person who had nothing to lose and would brutally crush any opponents.

However, he had surprised her on several occasions, one of such moments had occurred just earlier that week. Puchi had been racing around the village square with Kyoukou and Hogosha, while Aimi chased after them playfully, and the tiny girl had not been paying attention to where she was running. She had caught her foot on one of the uneven stones that paved the village and had been about to crash to the ground, when an arm wrapped around her middle, breaking her fall. Aimi had run up just in time to see Gaara set the little girl upright on her feet again. She had paused and watched as he kneeled down in front of the little girl and looked into her sweet face.

"Are you alright?" he had asked her, rubbing a small smudge of dirt off of her cheek.

Puchi nodded. "Yeah, I'm okay. Thank you."

"Alright, then go on and catch up to your brothers. And be careful," he warned gently as Puchi took off again.

Aimi had wondered at this all that day and for the majority of the week, when Kaen wasn't occupying her thoughts. She had known that he wasn't quite as hard on the inside as his outer appearance would have one believe, but she hadn't expected him to be so…so _nice_, especially with the little girl who he had everyone believing was nothing but a source of annoyance to him.

Now, as they sat on the roof of the barn, lost in each other's steady gaze, with moonlight adding an unearthly beauty to their surroundings, the young horse master realized that there was a lot more to the Kazekage than she had thought. She had only scratched the surface of who he was.

He slid his fingertips from the front of her cheek back to the spot right before her ear, and let his wrist lightly settle there while he reached around for a piece of her hair again. He loved her hair; it was sleeker than the finest silk and softer than the light, airy cotton that was sometimes imported to the village. He wished that he could wrap himself in her hair; bury his face in it and feel that smooth softness against his cheek and inhale the intoxicating desert scents that it gave off.

Her hazy blue eyes never left his while he toyed with her ebony hair. She wondered what he was thinking; the way he looked at her and touched her reminded her of an animal inspecting a newcomer. He leaned in a little, bringing their faces closer together. Aimi felt her heart start to beat a little bit faster and butterflies start fluttering lightly in her stomach. Something caught her eye and she turned her gaze to the red tattoo on his forehead. Not really thinking about it, she reached up and lightly touched it with one finger.

He tensed a little at her touch and stopped running her hair in between his fingers.

She felt him stiffen up and halted her own movements. "What's wrong?" she asked him.

"Nothing, I just…don't really like being touched," he responded.

She smirked slightly. "Then I need to desensitize you." She said.

"You need to what?" he asked.

"Desensitize you. I do it with horses a lot," she replied.

"Oh, I see. Well, just in case you hadn't noticed, I'm not a horse," he grinned slightly.

She rolled her eyes. "Well, obviously, _however_ I think that it'll work the same way for you that it's worked for the horses."

"Hn…what exactly is involved in this desensitizing?"

She seemed to ponder over her answer for a few seconds, watching him all the while. "I don't know if I should tell you or not," she finally said, "I wouldn't want you to see what's coming and then fight against it."

"I don't think it's fair if I don't know what to expect."

"The horses don't always know what to expect, but they suck it up and face it anyways."

"Why do you keep comparing me to a horse?"

She grinned. "Sorry, bad habit."

He gave a little half-smile. "Alright, so when does this 'desensitizing' thing start?" he asked.

"It already has," she stated, looking down.

He followed the direction of her eyes and saw that she had moved her hand that was on the roof, keeping her steady, so that her fingers were between his spread out ones, their sides touching. He gazed at their intermingling fingers with a disbelieving look on his face.

"See?" she said simply turning her eyes back to him. "Not so bad, is it?"

He smiled shortly and thought to himself, _I think I might learn to like this 'desensitizing' thing._


	13. Chapter 13

**Happy New Year everyone!!! I hope the hangovers aren't too bad (if you're of legal drinking age, _of course_!) ;D Here's s new chapter to kick off the new year! **

**Enjoy it and let me know your thoughts, they're always appreciated!!! Thanks!!!**

**-Keita**

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**A Flame in the Desert**

**-13-**

**Temporary Good-Byes**

"Temari, are you sure it's alright if they stay with you?" Aimi asked. She was in the other girl's apartment; outside, it was beginning to get dark.

The blond nodded fervently. "Absolutely! After all, they've been staying with me since you all got here."

"Hmm…that's very true," Aimi said thoughtfully.

Temari laughed. "Don't worry, we'll be fine. You just go and do what you have to do and take your time!"

Aimi nodded, "Okay, I really, really appreciate this, by the way."

Temari shrugged nonchalantly. "Yeah, well, when you get back you can just treat me to a fancy dinner and a manicure and shopping and…"

Aimi laughed and playfully smacked the sand kunoichi on the shoulder. "Yeah right! If that's your price for keeping them, then I'll just turn them loose and let them fend for themselves. Or," she grinned slyly, "I'm sure Kankurou will look after them for something much less expensive."

"Ew! That's gross!" Temari shouted, "I have icky images in my head now!"

"Ha! Say you'll do the job for free or else I'll continue!" Aimi threatened.

"Blah! No, don't! I'll do it, I promise!"

The two girls collapsed on the furniture in Temari's apartment, laughing hysterically. They had become very good friends during Aimi's stay, and each felt as though she had known the other for years.

Just then, the three Waterfall siblings came in.

"What's so funny?" Puchi asked, a big smile forming on her face upon seeing that Aimi and Temari were laughing.

The black-haired horse master wiped away tears from her eyes. "Nothing, Temari and I were just joking around. Come here," she held her arms open and the little girl ran to her and jumped into her lap. "Oof! I think you've grown! What's Temari been feeding you?"

Puchi just giggled. The boys ran over to sit with their guardian as well.

"And have you two been behaving?" Aimi asked the two boys, ruffling their hair affectionately.

"Of course we have!" Kyoukou piped up.

"Yeah, we've been perfect lil' angels!" Hogosha added.

Aimi laughed. "Good, that's what I like to hear! Now," she said, taking on a more serious tone, "I have to tell you something. I need to take Kaen out into the desert for some training and I'll be gone for awhile."

The kids all groaned with disappointment; Puchi threw her arms around Aimi's neck and squealed "No!"

"But," the black-haired girl continued, "Hopefully, it will only be for a few days, and I'll be back before you've even noticed I've gone. In the meantime, you three will still be staying with Temari, and I expect you to be on your best behavior, alright?"

The three children nodded solemnly.

"And try not to be total party-poopers, okay? I'm sure that you guys will have a blast with Temari! You won't want me to come back ever!"

The kids looked at the sand kunoichi as she nodded affirmatively at Aimi's speculations.

"And while I'm gone, the three of you will be in charge of Kumo. You need to make sure that he gets groomed and exercised everyday, okay? Can you do that for me?"

All three nodded again.

"Good. Now, I'll be leaving early, so I'll say good-bye now." She hugged the tiny girl in her lap first. "You be good and listen to Temari and your brothers, alright? I'll be back soon!" She planted a kiss on the girl's dark head. Then she turned to Hogosha, who was sitting on her left, and hugged him tightly. "Behave and take care of your sister." He nodded and she kissed the top of his brown head. Finally, she turned and hugged Kyoukou, who was on her right. "Take care of Temari and the two little ones. Don't fight and listen to Temari, okay? And take care of Kumo for me too. I'm counting on you, pal, can you do all this while I'm gone?"

Kyoukou nodded and grinned. "Of course! Piece of cake!"

Aimi smiled at him and kissed his black hair. "That's my boy! Now," she addressed all three children, "It's time to go and get ready for bed. Come on, chop, chop!" She clapped her hands for emphasis.

But none of the kids moved.

"Um, Temari usually lets us stay up until late." Hogosha said.

"Oh, really?" Aimi turned to Temari, who shrugged, a sheepish grin on her face. "Well, I'm your guardian and I say go get ready for bed, or else you know what happens…" Puchi gasped and put her hands to her mouth, "The tickler comes out!" Aimi raised one hand up, wiggling her fingers so that each child could see the fate that awaited them should they choose not to obey.

Hogosha and Kyoukou leapt off of the couch, Kyoukou grabbing Puchi from Aimi's lap, and dashed out of sight in the direction of the bedroom.

"Hehe, nothing works quite like the tickler," Aimi giggled, stretching. "So you're absolutely sure that it's not a problem?"

"I already said that it was fine! Seriously! Besides, where else are they gonna go? Kankurou is still a big baby himself, he couldn't look after those three! It would be chaos!" The blond laughed.

"Hmmm…those are all extremely good points. Well, if you're absolutely sure…"

"I AM!!!"

"Haha! Okay, okay, fine! Then, in that case, I'm going to find your brother; I have to speak to him about some stuff."

"Really?" Temari asked interestedly, "What kind of 'stuff'?" she added in a taunting voice.

"Horsey stuff, what else?"

Temari giggled and replied innocently, "Oh, I don't know, I can think of a few things…"

Aimi stuck her tongue out at the other girl as she walked to the door of the apartment and opened it. "Well, it's just horsey stuff!" she said as she walked out, shutting the door behind her.

Temari snickered to herself. "Yeah, maybe it's just horsey stuff _now_ but we'll see, my friend, we'll see…"


	14. Chapter 14

**Hello everyone! So sorry about not updating as quickly as I normally do, but I have several valid excuses:**

**1.) Winter break is not relaxing and writing-friendly when I am running all over the place trying to visit friends and family members and attend family gatherings and holiday parties and trying to catch up on some cable shows (since I don't have any in my apartment :P) and working and trying to get some sleep in there somewhere. I think that I was busier over break than I was during school. Speaking of school...**

**2.) School started up again (Boo!!! T-T) and I can already tell that this quarter is going to be...interesting. I can see many harsh migraines in my future. Thank God I have a gigantic bottle of Ibuprofin!**

**3.) This reason is super cheesy but it's true nonetheless. My horse, Molly, is really the one who got me started on this story; Kaen is based a lot off of her, and being around her and interacting with her inspires me with this story. Anyways, she lives at school with me and since I was at home over break, away from her, for almost two weeks, I didn't have her horsey-inspirational powers to work with. But now that I'm back and with her again, I should be able to get back on track!**

**Anyways, so there are my reasons for not updating super-fast! But I worked my booty off today finishing this chappie just for all of you because I love you all so much, especially when you leave me a review (hint, hint ;D)!!! **

**Anyways, enough talk, let's get to the chapter! I hope you like it! Let me know your thoughts, I always love hearing them!!!**

**Thanks!**

**-Keita**

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**A Flame in the Desert**

**-14-**

**Into the Desert**

She walked away from Temari's apartment and decided to try searching for Gaara in his office first, since that was the closest. Somehow she didn't think she would find him there, but she wanted to check anyways to save herself a trip back in case he was there.

She nimbly sprang up the wooden stairs that led to his office, taking two at a time. She knocked at his door once she had reached it, waited for a few seconds, and after no answer followed her knock, she tentatively opened the door and peered around the office. It was empty, as she had predicted.

She was about to leave when something glistened and caught her eye. She stopped to see what it was. It was one of the many artifacts that were scattered around the office and it was sitting on one of the shelves of a bookcase. It was a large carved silver disc; it had intricate designs around the outer edges and winding their way in towards the center, which had a different image engraved into it. The center illustration depicted a powerful-looking horse rearing up in a fighting stance while its rider wielded a large sword and wore an equally fierce expression on his face.

_Just like Gaara imagines Kaen will be,_ she thought. _Maybe this piece is what made him want a horse like Kaen in the first place?_

She traced the figures lightly, smiling fondly.

She snapped out of her reverie and, remembering why she had run up to the Kazekage's office in the first place, strode out, making sure to shut the doors behind her.

She decided to try the next obvious place, the barn roof. She walked leisurely through the village, kicking up sand as she did. She had come to like it in the desert. It lacked some things that the Waterfall Village and the surrounding area had, such as rivers, grass and abundant plant life in general, the variety of animal species and birds…she could go on.

But the desert had its charms too. There was something mysterious and alluring about the desert. The way the landscape could change overnight when the wind shifted the sand dunes; she could wake up to surroundings that were totally different from those she had fallen asleep in. There were the few plants, rugged and not really that pretty, but that amazed her with their ability to survive in such harsh surroundings. The wild animals that she had seen, snakes and lizards mostly, had been sources of interest and amusement to her and the children; there weren't many snakes and no lizards in the more temperate regions where she came from.

She was so deeply engrossed in these thoughts that she didn't even notice right away when the very object of her search had silently fallen into step beside her. In his dark clothing, he blended well with the shadows.

"Where are you going so determinedly?" he asked her in a low voice, so as not to startle her too badly.

Still, though, she jumped when he spoke and turned to face him. "I was actually trying to find _you_," she said, "I need to speak with you. And now that you've done the hard part of finding you for me, I can cut to the chase. I'm taking Kaen into the desert tomorrow for some pretty intensive training, and I need you to come with me."

He stopped walking. "You're doing what, and you need me why?"

She sighed exasperatedly. "I'm taking Kaen, your horse, into the desert for training. I need you to come with me for several reasons."

"Those being…?"

"The main one being so that I won't get lost out there and either go totally insane living off of scrub plants and cacti or just get baked to a crispy."

"Well, if that's all, then take one of the other horse masters or an assistant trainer," he replied.

"You didn't let me finish my reasons," She put a hand on her hip. "If it was only a matter of needing a guide then I would take someone else. However, unless you want to relinquish your ability to ride Kaen to a horse master, trainer or groom, then it needs to be you." She finished.

"I can't just leave!" he protested. "I'm the Kazekage, I have work to do! I can't just pick up and head out into the desert for some undetermined period of time!"

She sighed. "I've already told you that, as Kaen's rider, you play an important role in the training process that no other person can fulfill. I know that you're needed here in the village and I understand why you can't just leave on a whim, and like I said, if there was anyone else who could do what I need you to do, then I would ask them. But there isn't; it has to be you."

It was his turn to sigh. He turned his black-rimmed eyes to the ground thoughtfully, then looked back at Aimi's expectant face. He shrugged. "Alright, you win; I'll go into the desert with you."

The girl grinned. "Good; we're leaving at dawn tomorrow, so be ready." She was about to walk off towards the barn and her bed when his voice stopped her.

"Aimi," she turned to him, "Is there any other reason that you're insisting that I come with you on this little horse training quest of yours?" He had a devilish gleam in his eye as he said it.

She was grateful that it was dark enough to hide her blush. "Um, n-no…just for Kaen…" She walked away quickly after that.

Gaara watched the young horse master go, her black hair streaming out behind her. When she was gone from his sight, he turned and walked back to his own apartment, thinking about what he had just agreed to.

_I'm going to be out in the desert with her, alone except for the horses, for who knows how long…I guess it __could__ get interesting._

He was up and at the barn before dawn. Aimi had already been up for a few hours preparing the horses – they were each riding a horse and Aimi was going to pony-lead Kaen alongside her mount – and packing up some supplies in the saddlebags.

Kaen was awake and alert; his ears were like two radars flickering in every which direction. Gaara was impressed with his horse's much-improved behavior, for it wasn't that long ago that the flaming colt would be trying to lash out at anyone and everyone while having a fearsome look on his face.

Gaara took the two horses that they were going to be riding – one named Hoshi, who was so dark brown that he was nearly black and who had a white star on his forehead, and the other named Tsunami, who was a glistening sorrel color with four white stockings extending up each of his slender legs – and he led them out of the barn to stand and wait while Aimi walked Kaen out of his stall.

The redhead held onto Hoshi while Aimi mounted him, holding onto Kaen's lead rope with one hand while gathering the reins in her other hand. When he was sure that she was secure, he let go of her horse and he easily climbed into the saddle on Tsunami's back.

Kaen pranced during the entire walk to the gates of the village. When Gaara gave the command to open the gates, exposing the vast stretch of desert all around them, Aimi leaned over and whispered a few words to the spirited colt, instantly quieting him.

The two humans and three horses simply stood for a few moments, taking in the scene before them. The sun was just beginning to break over the horizon.

Aimi turned to her partner. "Ready?" she asked, with an adventurous sparkle in her pearly blue eyes.

He nodded in reply, unable to help a tiny grin at her eagerness.

"Go!" she shouted to Hoshi, who was only too willing to comply.

The dark young horse literally took a leaping start, pushing off with his powerful hind legs, propelling them forward. Kaen needed no urging either; the red-gold colt was in perfect sync with the other horse and matched him stride for vigorous stride.

Gaara gave Tsunami a free rein, and in a few lengthy strides, the white-legged horse had caught up to his companions and was effortlessly matching their speed.

Aimi couldn't help letting a huge smile break over her face and closing her eyes as the wind created by her mount's speed blew through her long, dark hair. She could feel the power seeping off of the magnificent animals as they flew across the sand, and she loved it.

Gaara looked over at Aimi and saw the look of pure bliss that had taken over her features. _She really loves this,_ he thought, smiling to himself.

They allowed the horses to run for a little while longer, and then they slowly drew them down to a light canter, then a springy trot, and finally, an energetic walk. The horses' coats glistened with sweat and their nostrils flared, but Aimi could feel that they were far from spent and they still had huge reserves of energy that hadn't even been tapped yet.

After some time, the dark-haired horse master turned to her "guide". "Alright, we should head for the nearest oasis. We'll camp there while we're out here."

Gaara nodded in agreement. "There's one further out in that direction," he pointed westward, "We should be able to make it there before nightfall."

"Perfect," Aimi said as she watched him, noticing how the sunlight lit up his red hair and when he moved, it looked like tongues of fire dancing.

They rode on easily for the rest of the day, and, just as Gaara had predicted, they reached the oasis just as the first streaks of violet were able to be seen in the sky.

The oasis was beautiful; there was a large pond full of crystal clear water and palm trees grew thickly around the water's edge, and other shrubs and scrubby desert bushes grew around the surrounding area. It was almost like some secret, magical place, hidden in the middle of the harshest landscape imaginable. Aimi found it quite breathtaking.

The pair dismounted their horses and led them over to drink from the fresh spring; they also bent down to drink the water that they managed to cup in their hands.

Once everyone had satisfied their thirst, Gaara and Aimi set to work getting the horses ready for the night. They removed the saddles and bridles from Hoshi and Tsunami, rubbed all three horses down with wet cloths, brushed them and fed them.

After they were finished with the horses, who were now all standing quietly – even Kaen – the horse master and the Kazekage made their own preparations for the night.

Gaara went to find kindling for a fire, while Aimi went to the spring to "shower"; he secretly wondered how she was going to manage that.

Aimi walked to the spring's edge, took off her shoes and stripped down to her underwear, then walked into the water until she was knee-deep in it. Taking the small travel cup that she had from her years of traveling all over the lands to train horses, she filled it with the water and dumped it over her head, savoring the feel of the lukewarm water running down her tired body.

Gaara had not only gathered more than enough wood to keep their fire going through the night, but he had also gotten the fire started and had unpacked their sleeping mats. He sat down and poked at the fire, waiting for her to return. When she didn't, he decided to go and look for her.

She was still in the spring, except now she was lying back, propped up on her elbows, eyes closed languidly, letting the water soak into her dry-feeling skin. _This is like paradise,_ she mused to herself, _All we need are some tiki torches and one of those steel drums playing._

He came to an abrupt halt when he caught sight of her in the spring. His heart began to pound and he felt a strange fluttery sensation in his stomach as he watched her rooted to the spot. With some difficulty, he managed to snap out of his trance-like state after convincing himself that it was a bit perverted to be hiding in the bushes watching her while she bathed.

"Aimi?" he called her, making it seem as though he had been searching for her and had just walked over to his current location.

"Yeah?" she replied dreamily, still lost in her paradise fantasy.

"Are you alright?"

"Mm-hmm…never better," Was her response.

"Okay…I was just making sure." He turned to leave.

"This water is perfect," she said, making him pause. "You should come in. Besides, it's not really like paradise vacation if there's no one else to talk to."

He walked slowly to the water's edge, close but not too close to where she still sat stretched out, partially submerged in the clear water. He tentatively stripped off his clothing until he was down to his shorts, and then stepped into the water. He sat down several yards away from her, not wanting to seem imposing.

They sat in silence for a couple minutes before she finally broke it by asking, "Doesn't this feel absolutely amazing?"

He nodded quietly, before remembering that her eyes were closed and responding verbally. "Yeah, after riding all day in the heat, this is certainly a nice way to relax."

She cracked one hazy blue eye open to look at him. "This goes far above and beyond just _relaxing_; this is like heaven," She closed her eye again, sighing deeply, "We should do this every night."


	15. Chapter 15

**Hey everyone! Soooooooo sorry about taking forever to update! The only time I really have to sit down and write anything is really early before I have to go to class, really late at night, or if I have some time in between classes, but I usually do homework then (ew!) Anyways, thanks for being patient and enjoy the chapter!!! R&R as always!!!! Thanks :D**

**-Keita**

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**A Flame in the Desert**

**-15-**

**Midday Heat**

Aimi woke early the next morning feeling refreshed and ready to take on the challenges of the day. Gaara was still asleep, so she ate a quick breakfast by herself and walked over to where the horses stood…well, Hoshi and Tsunami stood, but Kaen was acting up in his usual manner and pawing and stomping impatiently, occasionally throwing in a little half-rear or a lazy buck just to show that he was unhappy.

The horse master smirked as she walked over to him. "You need to learn how to be patient," she said, reaching her hand out and placing it on his muzzle. The colt instantly quieted at his trainer's touch. She stroked his glossy cheek, working her way down to his shimmering neck.

The young horse sighed contentedly and Aimi smiled. "Alright you," she said softly to him, "Let's get going."

She led him away from the other horses and a fair distance away from the oasis; she needed lots of open space. She had brought the lunge rope with her and she had this clipped to Kaen's halter, while she carried a saddle blanket and one of the other horse's saddle under her arm.

By this time, Kaen had gotten the hang of working on the lunge line, and he seemed to enjoy it, because Aimi allowed him to act up when he first started out. She didn't mind it because she knew that he had a lot of energy, and it would be easier if she just let him get it all out rather than trying to fight him for the entire lesson.

She put him through the learned routine: walk, trot, canter in both directions for about ten minutes each way, just to warm him up.

She stopped him and patted him on the neck when he obediently came over to where she stood. She picked up the saddle blanket and held it out to him for inspection.

The colt leaned his head in, huffing as he sniffed the red and yellow woven blanket. He looked inquisitively at Aimi as if asking, _What is it and what am I supposed to do with it?_

She walked to his side – the colt watching her warily – and she gently placed the blanket over his withers. He shivered, but gave no further reaction. Aimi was pleased. She picked up the saddle next and repeated the process that she had gone through with the blanket.

Kaen seemed to be more unsure about the saddle than he had been about the blanket, and as Aimi walked to his side, he took a cautious sidestep.

"It's alright, boy, I promise it won't hurt," she soothed him, stroking his shoulder.

The young horse relaxed and gently set the saddle on Kaen's back, on top of the saddle blanket. He twitched and turned his head so that he could see the object on his back and watch as Aimi next buckled one side of the girth, lifting the knee roll so that she could get at the straps.

"You're probably not going to like this part very much," she said to the horse as she moved to his opposite side and leaned down to grab the loose end of the girth. She slowly brought it under his belly, letting him feel it loosely first before tightening it little by little until it was buckled on the first hole of the strap.

Kaen had gone rigid, but didn't move; at least, not until Aimi backed off a few steps, then he let all hell break loose. The fiery colt took a huge leap into the air, twisting his hind end as he bucked. He carried on bucking, rearing and crow-hopping for nearly five minutes straight, but it was to no avail; the saddle wasn't coming off.

Finally realizing this, Kaen stopped his thrashing and jumping around and resorted instead to just pacing, occasionally throwing a kick at his stomach where he felt the girth's uncomfortable constriction.

Aimi waited patiently for him to finish; this reaction wasn't unusual for young horses that were being saddle-broken. When he finally stopped pacing and stood still, she walked over to him and patted him gently, then led him back to where they had originally started off; she was a little surprised at the amount of ground that Kaen had covered with his eccentric leaping.

When they finally reached the spot where Aimi wanted to work, she began to get Kaen going on the lunge line again. She laughed out loud as the young horse began to move very stiffly and awkwardly.

"You can relax, you know," she said to him. "You look ridiculous."

The red-gold colt eventually did relax enough so that he was moving in a fairly normal manner by the time the black-haired girl decided to call it quits for the morning. It was nearly noon and the sun was beating down on them mercilessly.

Aimi patted the colt's sweat-slick neck, grimacing as her hand came away wet and slippery; she nonchalantly wiped it on her jeans.

"Let's get you cleaned up a bit," she said, walking in the direction of their camp. Kaen followed obediently.

Once back at the oasis campsite, Aimi unsaddled Kaen, filled a bucket with fresh spring water and began sponge-bathing him. The colt stood with one hind leg loosely bent, which told Aimi that he was very relaxed and was enjoying his cooling bath immensely.

After soaking and scrubbing him, she used her little squeegee to scrape the excess sweat and water off of his glistening body. His coat was now several shades darker, coloring it in the likeness of dying embers or molten lava.

She fed him and left him to rest and socialize with Hoshi and Tsunami. She was tired, sweaty and hungry, so she grabbed a towel and headed down to the spring, munching a granola bar that she had dug out of her saddlebag as she walked.

Gaara hadn't been at the campsite when she had returned with Kaen, but she wasn't worried; she was certain that he could take care of himself, wherever he was.

She found shade under a large palm tree right on the water's edge. She threw down her towel and did a quick survey of the area, making sure that her redheaded companion was nowhere near, before stripping off all of her dirty clothing – including her underwear - and stepping into the cooling water.

She submerged herself completely in the water, coming up after a few seconds. She sighed deeply and closed her eyes as she allowed herself to just float.

He had been out scouting the desert, making sure that there were no rogue ninja, nomad raiders or enemy village ninja within a hundred miles in any direction. Luckily, he had seen none.

_Lucky for __them_, he thought, walking back to the oasis campsite.

He had been working on the side of the oasis that was the opposite end of the camp, so he had to walk through the entire grounds in order to reach the campsite, which meant passing by the spring.

Gaara wound his way through the scrubby desert bushes at the edge of the oasis, pressing forward through the steadily increasing plant life as he came nearer and nearer to the source of water.

He was walking along the edge of the water, when he noticed some movement in a dense cluster of bushes on the opposite side of the water. He paused, looking harder and trying to discern what created the disturbance. He thought he saw black hair, but he wasn't sure because a large palm branch blocked his view.

"Aimi?" he called out tentatively.

He heard a shriek and watched as the palm branch was suddenly ripped right off of the tree. The black-haired horse master held it pressed to her body like it was her life source; her cloudy blue eyes were wide with shock and a blush had crept up her cheeks.

"Oh, it's just you…I-I thought that, um, maybe it was, uh…" she stammered, her blush deepening.

He grinned devilishly. "Who else would it be? We're alone out here, remember?"

"Oh, right, that's a very good point," the girl replied.

He had begun to take slow steps forward again, but he had no intention of returning to the campsite; he was making his way to the other side of the spring, keeping his eyes glued on her. He had never seen her all flushed like that, she was usually cool and collected in every situation. He thought that she looked really cute though.

Aimi was scrambling to get as much clothing as possible on her body before he reached her. She succeeded in getting her panties, sports bra and tank top on and was going to start trying to wrestle her jeans on when he reached her. She froze with one leg halfway in her pants and looked up at him; he was looking at her hungrily, like a wolf might look at a lamb. She blushed even deeper, if that was possible.

He thought that his heart might burst right out of his chest, it was pounding so hard. Suddenly, as if his body was moving on its own, he reached out and grabbed her and pulled her against him. He moved one hand up to tilt her face up and he crashed his lips against hers.

She had squeaked in surprise when he grabbed her, but in less than half a second, she was kissing him back just as fervently as she was being kissed. She grabbed the sides of his face, holding him so that, even if he wanted to, he couldn't pull away. He had one hand at the back of her head and the other around her waist.

Finally, though neither of them wanted to, they broke the kiss before passing out from lack of oxygen. They were both panting.

"Whoa," Aimi breathed.

"Yeah," Gaara nodded his red head in agreement.

"That was…uh…"

"…bad?" he asked hesitantly.

"No!" Aimi said quickly. "No, it was really, really good."

"Oh…good," He sounded relieved.

They released each other and there was an awkward silence between them for a few moments, as though they had just been making out in a very public place. Each kept stealing glances at the other, until finally, their eyes caught again. Once that happened, they closed the small gap between them in a matter of milliseconds and were mouth-to-mouth again.

She tangled her fingers up in his flaming hair; he grabbed her by the hips and dragged her so that she was pressed tightly against him before stooping slightly so that he could seize both sides of her rear and lift her up.

She wrapped her legs around his waist for stability, gasping a little at the sudden change in height and the press of his hips on hers, but continued her assault on his lips with her own.

He took a few steps forward – she was so light in his arms that it wasn't a difficult feat – to press her against the trunk of the palm tree whose branch she had just ripped off.

She moaned slightly as he moved his mouth from her lips to her neck, grazing her smooth skin with his teeth.

_Hmm_, she thought as she ran her hands over his muscular shoulders, _I guess he didn't need as much desensitizing as I thought._


	16. Chapter 16

**Waaaahhh!!! I HATE school!!! It's so boring and exhausting and then I feel bad for not being able to update my fanfics for my awesome readers!!! I'm sorry that this chapter took so long, and I'm sorry it's so short!!! I feel bad making you all wait so long and then posting this short little thing, when by now, it should be like some epic work!!! **

**Well, I hope that you like it anyways. R&R as always!!!**

**Thanks!!!**

**-Keita**

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**A Flame in the Desert**

**-16-**

**What Is Love?**

They had kept busy for the rest of the afternoon. Aimi worked with Kaen some more after letting him rest for a few hours, and Gaara had performed more menial tasks, such as collecting firewood and checking their supplies. They weren't necessarily avoiding each other, it was just that neither knew how to act around the other. It was almost like they were young teenagers again, inexperienced and unsure.

Each had enjoyed the other's kiss immensely, and each had known it. Still, the abruptness with which a very unprofessional action had been committed in a – until then – professional relationship had shaken them both up.

Lucky for Aimi, Kaen had taken a nap during his break and was feeling refreshed and ready for round two of fighting the saddle, so she was able to focus her thoughts on the fiery colt.

When the sun began dipping further to the west and the sky was becoming increasingly stained by the golds and reds that signal the approaching evening, the horse master and her charge made their way back to the camp. Kaen was once again a lathery, sweaty mess, and Aimi sponge-bathed him for the second time that day.

After finishing his "chores", Gaara had gone to the spring to reflect on what had happened earlier and his feelings for the girl horse master.

By this time, he knew that he really liked her, and not just the power and strength that she unknowingly wielded. He knew that it wasn't her beauty that he lusted after; there were plenty of harem girls who were just as pretty, if not prettier than she was, and all he had to do was say the word and he could have any or all of them.

But he didn't want beautiful harem girls who were all decked out in sheer silks, bells, golden jewelry and makeup…he wanted her. Uma No Aimi, the horse master from the Waterfall Village, with her stained and torn tank tops, and her faded and frayed jeans, and that gorgeous long black hair.

He wanted to always be able to hear her laughter, see her smile and smell that desert musk on her. He wanted to always be able to stroke her smooth cheek and kiss her soft lips. And that hair…he was convinced that he wouldn't be able to live if he was unable to run his fingers through the ebony cascade that fell down her back at will.

He was suddenly struck with a thought: was this love?

He had asked many people, from his siblings to his peers to his teachers, to define love and he had received a different answer every time. He understood that it was probably the most complex and difficult to define of all emotions. Based on the varied responses he had received, he concluded that everyone had their own unique definition of love. And now, he was creating his own.

_Love_, he thought, _is feeling as though you are unable to continue on in life unless you are greeted every day by every aspect of the one you care for. Without them, life isn't even worth living._

By the time she had finished settling Kaen in for the night, Aimi had made a startling discovery: _I think I might love him._

She had thought about it long and hard; she had had plenty of crushes in her life, so she knew what attraction and lust were, and that wasn't what she felt for him. She had had "casual" boyfriends, so she knew what it meant to "like" someone, and she had also had a few serious boyfriends, so she knew what it felt like to really care for someone, but she had never been in love. And perhaps it was the fact that she had never experienced that emotion before that made her sure that it was indeed love she was feeling now for the Kazekage of the Suna.

So the pair remained, each lost in their own separate yet similar thoughts, until the quarter moon had risen and the stars were burning brightly.

Gaara had returned from the water's edge to find the black-haired horse master sitting with her knees pulled to her chest, a light blanket around her shoulders, staring thoughtfully into the dancing flames of the camp fire.

He sat on the opposite side of the fire; watching as the flickering tongues cast fleeting shadows on her face.

She noticed how the firelight intensified his already fierce eyes, making them seem almost animalistic.

"So," she began, glancing nervously away from his face, "I figured something out today."

He looked at her with interest. "What's that?"

"I…" she paused; once she told him, she knew that she couldn't take it back. She wasn't sure if he really felt the same way she did, or if he had just acted on some primitive male instinct. Still though, if she didn't tell him the burden of her feelings would weigh down on her, threatening to crush her, for a long, long time.

"IthinkIloveyou," It came out so rushed that it was like one word. After she had spoken, she looked away, resting her gaze on the three sleeping horses that were a short distance away.

He was slightly stunned; it had taken him a moment to register what she had said, but when he did, a slow grin crept across his face. He slowly crawled around the fire so that he was sitting next to her; she was still looking away. He used his middle and index fingers to gently turn her face so that she was looking directly at him.

He smiled and placed a gentle kiss on her lips. "I love you too," he said.

"Really?" she asked.

He almost laughed out loud; since he had known her, she had never seemed nervous or unsure about anything, yet now here she was, relief flooding her face. He nodded in response to her question.

"Really," he whispered, kissing her again, a little more intensely this time.

The happiness that Aimi felt upon hearing Gaara say that he returned her feelings was nearly overwhelming; she thought that her chest might explode, her heart was beating so fast.

That night, they had slept side-by-side, their fingers entangled. Gaara watched her while she slept, marveling at how, in her fairly short life, she had been struck with devastating tragedy, risen up to a heightened status in her profession while caring for three young children, and still was so…normal.

She reminded him very much of his friend Uzumaki Naruto, from Konoha. Naruto had had a tough time growing up, but he always kept his head held high and had a positive attitude about every challenge that he took on. Now, he was one of the best Jounin that Konoha had ever known.

Gaara always wondered how he had been sucked into a world of hate and resentment when he was younger, but those around him, who he had always thought were so much weaker than him, managed to rise above their hardships and use their anger and fear to drive them forward in achieving their goals. It was only after meeting Naruto that he realized that he had been the weak one.

Now there was Aimi, the girl that finally captured his distant heart. She was quite something; strong-minded and good-hearted. The fact that she had been able to calm his furious horse was evidence enough of that.

She had tamed Kaen, and she had simultaneously tamed him much in the same manner. She had calmed his short temper and taught him that he could trust her, and, like his horse, Gaara had come to respect her. Hell, he had come to love her, everything about her.

He smiled as a light breeze blew a piece of her ebony hair across her face, causing her to wrinkle her nose in her sleep. He softly tucked the strand of hair behind her ear, making sure not to wake her, and leaned in to lightly kiss her forehead before settling back down on his side to continue watching the girl horse master slumber peacefully.


	17. Chapter 17

**Hello all! So sorry for the long wait, but the next chapter is finally here!!! I had a lot of fun writing this one, I hope you all enjoy it!!! Don't forget to leave me a review! Thanks!**

**-Keita**

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**A Flame in the Desert**

**-17-**

**Work and Play**

"Just do it!" The dark-haired horse master was running out of patience, which almost never happened.

"There's no way I'm going to subject myself to your harsh critical judgment!" The Kazekage argued.

The girl's hands went to her hips. "I already told you, I'm not judging, I'm analyzing! There's a difference!"

Gaara crossed his arms resolutely over his chest and shook his head. Aimi huffed in annoyance.

"Listen! Do you wanna ride your horse or not? Because until I see how you ride, I can't train him for you properly! So you have to choose: let me see you ride so that I can continue training Kaen, or don't show me and never ride him. It's up to you! So what's it gonna be?" She tapped her foot in the sand impatiently.

Gaara looked from the horse master to his fiery horse, standing quietly as if sensing the tension and knowing that it would be an inopportune time to act up. Either way, his pride would have to be pushed aside; either he gave it up now and did what Aimi was asking, or he returned to the village unable to ride his horse.

He sighed in defeat while she smirked in triumph; they both knew which option he was going to go with.

"Alright, fine. But if I hear one criticizing comment from you…" he began.

"Relax," she giggled, walking up to him and placing a gentle kiss on his lips, "I promise, I'm not watching you for flaws, I'm just trying to get an idea of your riding style, that's all."

A tiny smile threatened to break his forced stern expression as he walked over to Tsunami, who was saddled and ready for him. He climbed up into the saddle and urged the white-legged horse forward into a springy, energetic walk.

Aimi sat in the sand, studying the redhead closely as he worked the young horse in a wide circle at a walk, trot and canter in both directions. She called out instructions to him a couple times, such as "make a circle", or "stop him and back him up a few steps".

"Okay," she said finally, after watching the pair work for nearly twenty minutes, "I think I've got it."

Gaara halted Tsunami, and they stood facing Aimi. "So that's all?"

She nodded her ebony head, busying herself with getting Kaen ready for the day's lesson. He was now completely accustomed to the saddle, and she was working with him on the bridle, teaching him to not fight the bit in his mouth. She was getting close to the next step in the colt's training, which was riding.

Gaara watched from Tsunami's back as the dark-haired girl quickly brushed to colt down, threw the saddle blanket and then the saddle over his withers and then tightened the girth under his belly. He couldn't believe how calmly Kaen stood and how the horse didn't even flinch when the girth was tightened.

He urged his shiny sorrel mount to follow after Aimi and the red-gold colt when, after having slipped the bridle over Kaen's face and the bit between his teeth, she lead him from their campsite and further out into the sand, like she always did.

The girl paused and looked up at him, "What are you doing?" she asked.

He halted the horse, looking slightly taken aback. "What? Am I not allowed to watch?" he asked, a little testily.

She shook her head quickly. "No, I didn't mean it like that. Of course you can watch, it's just that you've never asked to come along before, that's all."

He forced a stern expression onto his face. "In case you've forgotten, I'm the Kazekage…I don't have to ask anybody's permission to do anything."

Aimi bit her lip to cover up her smile. "Of course not, how silly of me to even question you."

Gaara gave a little huff, and Aimi turned and continued leading the colt on, using all her willpower to not laugh.

She put Kaen through the usual routine, laughing at the spirited colt when he started to crow hop across the sand, letting off some of his endless energy. She stole a glance at Gaara's face; he was also smiling at his horse.

After letting him get all of his kicks out on the lunge rope and burn a little of his energy, the dark-haired horse master halted the fiery colt and clipped a long rein to each of the rings on the horse's bit. She then moved so that she was slightly behind and to the side of his left hind leg, and then clicked to him, urging him forward, while she maintained control with the reins from behind.

Kaen strained against the piece of metal in his mouth at first, but Aimi used her hands to gently move the bit, causing him to drop his head, before loosening up and letting him just relax. She wanted to make this training as pleasant of an experience as possible.

After guiding the colt in a wide circle in each direction, she halted him by gently closing her hands on the reins, creating a soft pressure on his mouth. The horse master walked up to Kaen's head and he pushed his glistening muzzle in her arms; she smiled and stroked him gently.

She turned to Gaara, still holding Kaen's head. "Do you wanna try?" she asked, offering up the long reins to him.

He shrugged, but dismounted Tsunami, who remained standing placidly in the spot where he was left, and walked over to Aimi and Kaen.

The girl placed the reins in his hands and accompanied him as he moved to the position that Aimi had been in when she was working the colt.

"He has a really sensitive mouth, so you've got to be careful when you give him cues, otherwise he'll just get upset and try to fight you," she explained as the three of them moved forward slowly.

After about ten minutes, Aimi decided that Kaen had worked well and that it was time to return to the oasis.

Gaara went to hand the long reins back to the girl, but she just looked at him and shook her head, saying, "No, he's your horse, _you_ take him back." She went and got Tsunami, just to prove that she wasn't going to be the one leading Kaen back to the camp.

The redhead and the flaming colt watched the dark-haired horse master as she led the white-legged horse away, each one slightly taken aback.

Then they looked at each other. Gaara had watched his horse from the window in his office many times, and he had gone to watch nearly every day when Aimi was still working with him back in the village, but he had never really been face-to-face with the colt, not like he was now.

He remembered back to the day that he had first seen Kaen; the horse was just a tiny, awkwardly long-legged foal, frisking about at his mother's side. But even then, he'd shown a powerful spirit, snorting and bucking and terrorizing the other little foals.

It had been the little horse's fiery temper and his striking looks that had captured the Kazekage's interest in the first place. Now, as he stood next to Kaen, he marveled at how his horse had grown from being a scrawny, leggy foal to a strongly-built young horse.

He reached out and put a hand on Kaen's glistening neck; the colt looked intently at his master, but didn't make any move against his touch. A tiny smile crossed Gaara's face.

Aimi had watched the entire exchange of looks between the two red-haired creatures. She had stopped walking with Tsunami when a glance over her shoulder told her that Gaara and Kaen weren't following; it was then that she had seen the Kazekage reach out to place his hand gently on the horse's neck and Kaen had allowed it. It made her smile to see that, in that brief moment, the two powerful and strong-willed beings had exchanged respect and trust with one another.

Tsunami nickered softly, reminding her that he was still there. The girl grinned at the sorrel colt and patted him on the shoulder as she continued walking him back to the camp.

When they had returned, which was shortly after Aimi and Tsunami, Gaara had completely taken over caring for Kaen. He did everything that, until that point, Aimi had done; he sponge-bathed him, scraped the excess sweat and water from his body with the squeegee, fed and watered him and put him with the other horses to rest.

After he had finished, he looked over at Aimi; she looked tired and hot and dirty, but most of all, he thought she looked beautiful.

She didn't think so. "Ick! I feel _disgusting_! I'm going for a bath right now!" she grabbed a towel and had taken only three steps before looking over her shoulder at him. "Are you coming, or what?" she asked, a slightly teasing edge to her voice.

His sea-green eyes glinted with a hint of playfulness as he walked over to where she was waiting for him.

They had barely made it to the edge of the spring before they pounced on one another; he had his fingers laced together under her rear, supporting her while she had her legs wrapped around his middle and her arms around his neck. They were kissing each other deeply, lost in the pure ecstasy of each other's touch.

Gaara slowly took a step backwards, towards the water, then another, then another until he felt the refreshing coolness of the spring engulf his bare foot. He continued slowly making his way deeper into the water, and it was up to his knee. All of a sudden, forgetting about the unexpected drop-off, he lost his footing and went plummeting down into the crystal water, while unintentionally throwing Aimi in a vain attempt to keep his balance. The girl landed in the water a few yards away, resurfacing to spit out a mouthful of water.

She looked at Gaara with a look of shock in her cloudy blue eyes; his black-rimmed eyes were just as astonished as hers. But almost instantly, she burst out laughing and even he couldn't resist her infectious, hysterical laughter.

Aimi swam the short distance to where Gaara was slowly treading water; his red hair was now soaked and it hung down over his eyes in a way that reminded her of a sheepdog that she had seen once, right after it had been rained on.

She giggled and brushed a piece of the damp, fiery hair from his eyes before pressing a kiss to his lips and then splashing the clear water in his face and swimming away as quickly as she could, still giggling.

He was grinning as he chased after her, swimming through the water with quick strokes. When he caught up to her, she squealed and turned around quickly, jumping up to attempt to dunk him, which worked, except that he grabbed her waist and pulled her under with him.

Under the water, he seemed to her to be some sort of beautiful water demon, with his haunting, dark-rimmed, bright-green eyes and his flaming hair swirling around his face.

He thought that she looked like a mermaid with that long black hair and her big, blue eyes. He slid his hand behind her neck and pulled her close for a kiss.

The need for air drove them to the surface, where they continued to play for a while longer, until their tired muscles could no longer handle the work required to keep them afloat.

They dragged themselves from the spring and over to the shade of the giant palm tree, where they fell asleep together, her head resting peacefully on his strong chest and his arm securely around her waist, holding her close.


	18. Chapter 18

**Yay! Another chapter for my lovely readers :) I personally loved this chapter; it's definitely one of my favorites! I hope you like it as much as I do :D**

**As always, R&R! Thanks!**

**-Keita**

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**A Flame in the Desert**

**-18-**

**Riding Lessons**

After that, Gaara went with Aimi everyday into the sand and worked with Kaen as well. He and the red-gold colt were becoming more and more familiar with each other and enjoying each other's company, which was exactly what Aimi had wanted. It was for this reason that she had insisted that Gaara come with her into the desert in the first place.

The colt had been making leaps and bounds in his training, and Aimi had decided that the time had finally come to climb into the saddle and begin teaching the horse how to carry a rider on his back.

So, on the appointed day, Aimi and Gaara woke up just before sunrise and fed the three horses. After that, they groomed all three, but only saddled Kaen and Tsunami. Aimi bridled the white-legged horse as well, but Gaara knew that the girl always lunged the red-gold colt before attempting to get any real work done with him, so he shouldered the bridle and clipped the lunge rope to Kaen's halter.

Then the two humans traded steeds, Aimi handed Tsunami's reins to Gaara, who transferred possession of Kaen's lunge rope to the horse master before climbing up on the sorrel horse's back. They walked away from their campsite, leaving Hoshi to happily munch on some of the scrubby forage he had managed to find.

Once in the area designated by Aimi as the training grounds, Gaara halted Tsunami, prepared to just watch the girl and horse.

But Aimi had other ideas; she held the lunge rope up and asked, "Do you wanna do it?"

Her question surprised Gaara, but he nodded and swung himself out of the saddle, walking over to Kaen and Aimi, handing the empty bridle off to her as he approached. The girl handed the lunge rope to the Kazekage and went to stand with the other horse, watching as Gaara proceeded to put the colt through the regular warm up routine.

After about twenty minutes, he halted the colt, who was still brimming with energy, and accepted the bridle that Aimi offered. With ease, Gaara slipped the metal bit between the horse's teeth and the leather head-piece over his ears, pulling his jet black forelock out so that it hung over the brow-band and didn't look ridiculous plastered against his head. He buckled the throat-lash and turned back to Aimi, who had been watching satisfactorily with Tsunami.

"Alright, he's all ready to go."

The girl nodded, smiling. She walked over to the two; Kaen watched as she approached, his ears pointed alertly in her direction. She paused to pat the colt, her hazy blue eyes meeting his dark-but-bright ones, before moving to his side and tightening the girth of the saddle even more, causing Kaen to pin his ears and kick uncomfortably at his stomach.

"Easy," Aimi said softly to him, stroking his shoulder before lowering the stirrups which, until then, had been bound up out of the way in the stirrup leathers, so they didn't bang against the horse while he was working.

The black-haired horse master then went back to the colt's head where Gaara was still holding his reins. He handed them to her and she slid them over his head. Finally, she grasped Kaen's beautifully sculpted head in her hands, looking at him seriously before closing her eyes, pressing her forehead against his and whispering to him quietly. The colt shivered and his ears moved back and forth, listening to what his trainer was saying.

Gaara tried to eavesdrop on the one-sided conversation, but the only words he managed to catch sounded like nothing but gibberish to him. Kaen, however, nickered at the girl's whispered words understandingly. The redhead wondered silently if the colt truly comprehended what was being said, or if it was just the soothing quality of Aimi's voice that calmed him.

The horse master moved slowly from the fiery colt's head to where she was just slightly behind his left shoulder. She gathered the reins in her hands and placed her hands on the saddle, one on the pommel and the other on the cantle, watching the horse's face for any indication that he was going to throw a fit.

She leaned a little into his side, pressing down more on the saddle, her eyes still on him. The colt looked back at her with curiosity, but made no move to indicate that he was going to misbehave.

So the girl kept on going; she lifted her left leg and placed it in the hanging stirrup, slowly hoisting herself up as she tightly clutched the saddle. She didn't sit in the saddle yet; instead, she only leaned across it, letting him feel her weight on his back. Kaen shifted uneasily under her, but still didn't try to throw her or act up in any way.

"Good boy," Aimi cooed softly to the horse as she lay across the saddle for a few more moments, allowing him to adjust to the weight change before very, very slowly swinging her other leg over the saddle and shifting to an upright sitting position, holding the reins loosely in her hands.

Gaara and Tsunami were watching intently and with interest.

A gentle, scented breeze blew across the four stationary figures, rustling the matching black manes of the horse master and colt, the red hair of the Kazekage, and the sorrel mane of the other, white-legged horse.

Aimi reached down to stroke Kaen's tense neck and whisper to him some more. She sat back and ever-so-softly touched his sides with her heels, signaling him to move forward.

That was when it happened; the colt didn't merely move forward, he _exploded_. He took a huge leap into the air, using his powerful hind legs to propel himself forward. The second his hind feet were on the ground again, his front feet were off it as he jumped straight up, arching his back and neck. He kicked out with his back legs in midair, and went on a wild bucking streak across the sand.

Gaara quickly jumped onto Tsunami's back and the pair took off after the pair that was growing more distant by the second.

Aimi was able to hold on and keep her seat, but it wasn't easy. She had saddle-broken countless young horses and nearly all of them had thrown fits and bucked and reared and done whatever they could think of to dislodge her and she had managed to work through it with all of them.

However, Kaen was different; he was, undoubtedly, the strongest and most powerful horse that Aimi had ever worked with. She could feel the raw energy seething off of him whenever he thrust his legs out; she could feel his sinuous muscles bunching and relaxing as he moved.

But she clamped her legs around the horse's sides and sat firmly and deeply in the saddle, anchoring herself to her seat. She also wound her fingers in his black mane to steady herself. She wondered how long he would be able to go for; she figured that it would be quite awhile before he tired himself out.

Gaara and Tsunami weren't too far behind the bucking colt. He didn't want to get in the way, but he also didn't want to be too far off in case Aimi was thrown and hurt. The sorrel horse was going at an easy gallop, his white legs flashing as he ran.

Suddenly, Kaen seemed to catch sight of the other horse alongside him. Apparently, his competitive spirit beat out his urge to fight his rider, because the flaming colt ceased his bucking and instead threw all of his energy into running. Aimi was a little surprised as the colt shifted gears, but she went along with it.

Kaen's stride began to get wider; the ground was now flying by them. Gaara urged Tsunami to go faster, intent on keeping up with the girl and colt. But whenever Kaen saw the other horse closing in on him, he switched to a higher gear and went even faster, until Tsunami was galloping as fast as he possibly could, his white legs now just a blur as they moved.

The air whipped Aimi's face so intensely that her eyes were beginning to water. She couldn't see anything; it was all moving too fast. She turned her head, looking for Gaara and Tsunami, but they had already fallen far behind. It was just her and Kaen, racing across the limitless desert like a speeding fireball.

If she hadn't been clinging to the horse under her so tightly with her legs, the wind would have lifted her right out of the saddle, it was so strong. She crouched forward, putting her face next to the colt's strong neck.

This was what she had been waiting for ever since she first saw Kaen. She knew that he would be thrilling to ride and it had been like a mild form of torture to work with the magnificent horse every day but not get to ride him. Now, all her work had paid off; she was on the back of the fiery colt, racing through the desert. She doubted that even a sandstorm could catch them now.

Finally, when she felt Kaen slowing down a little, she took it as a sign that he was tiring, and she used the opportunity to draw back on the reins gently, slowing him even more until he was loping along at an easy canter. She managed to turn him so that they were facing the direction that they had come from, and she let him canter along peaceably for a while.

Gaara had given up trying to follow Aimi and Kaen when they had disappeared from sight. Tsunami had given all he had and Gaara knew that it would be cruel to try to push the sorrel horse further; he'd done his best.

So they had returned to the camp. The Kazekage tended to his mount, walking him out, stretching his legs and bathing him. He gave the horse some of the good hay that they had brought and left to clean himself up a little at the spring.

He was just starting to cook some food – he was sure that Aimi would be famished when she and Kaen finally returned – when a soft nicker from Hoshi caused him to look up.

He followed the dark young horse's gaze across the sand to where Aimi and the flaming colt were making their way back to them. He left the food on the fire and sprinted over to the pair; Kaen was dark with sweat and he had white, foamy lather in spots on his neck and chest, while the girl horse master was flushed in the face and sweaty.

She looked tired, but she greeted Gaara with a smile when he slid to a stop in front of them, his sea-green eyes wide with concern.

"Are you alright?! Did anything happen?! How far did you go?!"

"We're both fine, just a little tired," she replied calmly, patting the colt's sweat-slicked neck.

The redhead made to grab the reins and lead the colt back to camp, but before he could, Aimi slid from the saddle, tottering momentarily on her shaky, tired legs; Gaara ran to grab her waist, steadying her.

"You ride him back," she said softly, looking up at him.

"No, you can barely stand. Just get back on him and I'll lead you back," Gaara insisted.

Aimi shook her black head firmly. "No, I've been riding for the past three hours and my legs won't take it anymore. I need to walk and _you_ need to ride your horse Kazekage-sama." She grinned at him.

Gaara looked over at Kaen; the colt had stopped walking and was watching the two humans. It was obvious that the he was tired, but he still had that glint in his eye that told Gaara that his horse hadn't been broken in the sense of being conquered or forced into submission, he had just given in a little…_compromised_ was the perfect word.

Aimi was now standing on her own; she smiled as she gave Gaara a little, playful push in Kaen's direction. "Go," she urged gently. "Ride your horse."

Gaara looked at her a little uncertainly, but obeyed. He walked over to the red-gold colt, who, recognizing his master, gently thrust his muzzle into his hands. The redhead smiled and stroked Kaen's damp cheek and forehead.

He then walked to Kaen's side and tentatively put one foot in the stirrup, watching the horse's face in much the same manner that Aimi had before mounting him earlier. Kaen simply stood, looking far too tired to attempt anything that would require an output of energy.

Gaara climbed up so that he was sitting in the saddle completely. Kaen did nothing but stand quietly.

The Kazekage had ridden many horses in his life, some of which had been enjoyable, others not as much. He enjoyed riding Tsunami very much; the sorrel horse had nice, even gaits, was neither too hard nor too soft in the mouth and he was obedient to every command. But just sitting on Kaen, the fiery horse that he had admired since his birth, caused him to feel overwhelming happiness.

Kaen was like no other horse he had ever been on before; he knew in that moment that he and the red-gold colt were meant to be together, and that together, they would be feared by their enemies and powerful leaders to their own people.

Aimi was smiling; as soon as Gaara had mounted Kaen, the image of the horse and rider that she had seen etched into the silver plate came rushing back to her.

She had been in the horse business for a long time, and in that time, she had seen horses and riders that looked nice together, those that got along well enough and understood each other, and those that should never have even crossed paths. When she looked at the two fiery creatures in front of her, she could see that they were a perfect example of the rare cases in which a horse and rider, who are perfectly matched in every way, find each other.

She felt so immensely proud of the both of them.

Aimi gave a series of low, short whistles, and within seconds, Hoshi came trotting over to her, nickering. The girl patted the dark horse appreciatively and whispered into his ear before somehow managing to pull herself onto his bare back.

Once she was situated, she moved Hoshi next to Kaen, smiled at the red pair, and walked beside them the rest of the way back to camp.


	19. Chapter 19

**In a feeble attempt to win back your love and affection after making you wait forever for an update, I made this chapter super long! Please accept it with my sincerest apologies for the long wait...school's a bitch! Lol!**

**Read it, review it and enjoy it!!! Thanks!**

**-Keita**

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**A Flame in the Desert**

**-19-**

"**I'm Taking the Day Off!"**

Both Aimi and Kaen had been exhausted the next morning after their little ride through the desert the previous day. Gaara, who was eager to ride his horse again as soon as possible, was the first to get up; the sun hadn't even fully risen yet.

He saw that Aimi was sleeping soundly and he figured that she was tired, so he took it upon himself to clean the saddles and bridles to pass the time until she awoke.

When he was finished, the sun was up and casting a soft, early-morning light on the sand and the creatures that rested upon it. However, the girl horse master still wasn't awake; so the Kazekage decided that he would let her sleep while he fed and watered the horses.

Kaen seemed a bit lethargic as he ate the grain and munched on the hay that was provided to him by his master. Gaara stood and stroked the horse's smooth neck for a little while, running his fingers through the colt's silky, jet mane while he ate.

Tsunami, while more energetic than Kaen, was even a little sluggish; the young sorrel horse wasn't playfully tossing his head or nickering loudly like he normally did. The only one who seemed to have a fraction of the energy that Gaara was feeling was Hoshi.

When the horses were finished eating and after Gaara had walked each one down to the spring to drink the clear water, Aimi _still_ wasn't awake. The sun was climbing higher in the cloudless sky, and the redhead knew that it must have been around nine o'clock; which was much, much later than the usual time that Aimi woke up. Normally, the girl was the first one up, rising a little before dawn to feed the horses and take her time getting Kaen ready for the day's training. But as he looked at her, the girl showed no signs of getting up anytime soon; she had even buried her head under her blanket to block out the sunshine, and all he could see of her was some of her long black hair hanging out.

Gaara sighed impatiently; he really wanted to wake the girl up himself, but he thought that it would be rude and plus, he knew that she had been working long, hard hours and she deserved a rest. So he decided to groom the horses.

He brushed Kaen until the colt's fiery coat glistened in the sun, giving it the appearance of dancing flames. As soon as he finished, the young horse walked slowly to the spot where the three animals slept at night, and, letting one hind leg hang slack while the other three locked up, he hung his head and drifted off to sleep.

The Kazekage groomed Tsunami next; when he was finished, the horse's light coat was lit up as if he had been coated in gold and his white legs were free from any trace of dirt. Tsunami waited until he was sure that Gaara was finished with him before walking over to join Kaen in napping.

Hoshi was the only one who showed any sort of emotion other than weariness while Gaara groomed him. The dark horse's ears flickered back and forth, listening alertly while the redhead spoke to him, and he turned to face the human several times, lipping affectionately at his clothing from time to time. His coat shone like polished onyx when Gaara was finished running the brushes over the horse's body. Hoshi didn't move to join his companions in slumber when Gaara left him, instead, he went foraging around for some sort of delectable desert plant.

The Kazekage had never had much patience, and he had gone well above and beyond his normal allotment of patience with the horse master, but he was now out of tasks to keep himself busy; it had to be close to noon by now, and Aimi was _still_ sleeping!

He ran a hand through his flaming hair in frustration; how long could she sleep for?! He felt that this was absolutely ridiculous; Aimi was a young girl in good health, and sure, she had physically exerted herself a little more yesterday than she had in a while, but that didn't give her the right to sleep all morning!

He half-stomped over to the still form of the girl, stopping when he was next to her concealed head. He kneeled down in the sand and tentatively lifted the blanket from her face, peering under it with his dark-rimmed eyes.

"Aimi?" he whispered.

She didn't move; she gave no indication whatsoever that he had disturbed her slumber.

"Aimi," he said, a little louder this time; still no response from the girl.

He sat straight for a second, sighing in exasperation. _Alright,_ he thought, _enough is enough; nobody sleeps for this long! _And with that, he ripped the blanket off of the sleeping horse master's face while simultaneously yelling, "Rise and shine! It's freaking noon!"

He knew that he was being immature and a little selfish, but he couldn't help it; the anticipation of getting on Kaen's back again was eating away at him, consuming his thoughts.

Aimi slowly opened her hazy blue eyes, shielding them from the glare of the high sun. She was able to make out the form of Gaara kneeling next to her, peering down at her with anxious and impatient eyes. She lifted the hand that wasn't protecting her eyes, using her index finger to beckon him to come closer; the Kazekage leaned down so close to her, that the tips of his red hair brushed her cheek.

When his ear was almost touching her lips she screamed as loud as she possibly could, "What tha HELL did you wake me up for?!"

The sheer force of her words forced Gaara to sit back in the sand, rubbing his ear and wincing in pain. "Was that really necessary?"

"Was it necessary for you to wake me up?!" Aimi asked smartly, a death-inflicting look crossing her features.

"Well excuse me for thinking that you were seriously in a coma or something! You've been sleeping for the past fourteen hours!"

"I was _tired_!" she seethed.

Gaara cupped his hand around his afflicted ear. "What? Sorry I can't hear you, I'm DEAF in one ear now!"

Aimi rolled her eyes and forcefully kicked her blankets away, a sour look still plastered to her face. "Yeah right, I don't feel sorry for you at all!" she said venomously as she staggered to her feet and walked in the direction of the spring.

Gaara bounded after her; she turned her face away from him snootily. "So, now that you're up, are you going to get Kaen ready to work?" he asked, unable to hide the eagerness in his voice.

"No," Aimi answered flatly, "Not only is it just about the hottest part of the day, which you, Mister Kazekage, should know…but I'm taking the day off, and so is Kaen." She knelt down to splash water on her face.

Gaara's jaw dropped disbelievingly. "Wh-what? Day off? Can you do that?" he asked, a tinge of heartbreak in his voice.

"I'm the trainer, I can do whatever the hell I want!" Aimi yelled, clearly annoyed that he would question her decision.

"But…but he did so well yesterday…I mean, don't you want to keep him going while he's on a good streak?" The redhead asked suggestively.

"He's more exhausted than I am from yesterday, and I want to give him time to recuperate before making him work hard like that again."

"Don't you want to get some work done while he's too tired to fight you, though?" he pressed.

Aimi sighed in irritation before turning to her companion. "What is your problem this morning? Why are you so insistent that I work Kaen? You sound like the kids when they're trying to get me to fall into one of their prank traps."

"I didn't set any prank traps, okay? I just want to ride him again, that's all!" Now Gaara's frustration was converting to irritation as well.

"Well, you're just going to have to wait, because we are both taking a day for some rest and recovery," Aimi replied.

The Kazekage huffed and plopped, cross-legged in the sand at the edge of the spring, next to the black-haired girl; he eyed her malevolently.

She caught one of his glares out of the corner of her eye. "Don't look at me like that!" she yelled accusingly. "Kaen's been working his ass off; he deserves a day to rest!"

It was Gaara's turn to act all snobby as he crossed his arms over his chest, lightly closed his eyes, and turned his nose up away from her. "I just want you to know that you've succeeded in ruining my entire day." He informed her.

Aimi jumped up, her hands flying to her hips. "Oh yeah?! Well I'll have you know that you ruined my entire day when you woke me up!"

"Please, you had to wake up sometime soon," he said condescendingly.

"Oh no I didn't! I could have slept all day if you hadn't woken me up!" she yelled.

"Mmm-hmm…sure," he said, nonchalantly inspecting a fingernail.

This infuriated the horse master to the point where she wanted to do something totally childish like kick sand at him or pull his hair; instead, she just balled her fists, clenched her jaw and angrily stamped her feet in the sand.

Gaara shifted one sea-green eye to see what she was doing. "You are behaving in an utterly ridiculous and childish manner, Aimi." He said to her as though he were speaking to a five-year-old.

This only served to feed her temper even more. She ceased her stomping and turned a burning glare on his sitting form, while thrusting an accusatory finger at him. "Well if you hadn't woken me up, then maybe I would be in a better mood and be able to handle this with a level of maturity that meets your standards!" she shouted, turning on her heel and striding purposefully away from him around the side of the water.

He looked over at her again to make sure that she had her back to him before bursting out into peals of silent laughter. He stood up and went after her, the sound of his footsteps muffled by the sand. When he was close enough, he wrapped his arms around her from behind and lifted her off the ground in a crushing hug.

She had given one short scream of surprise before turning angry again. "What tha hell are you doing?! Put me down, now! I'm still angry with you!" she yelled, squirming and kicking against his embrace.

"No you're not," he insisted, grinning as he pressed his cheek into her back, holding her close against him.

"Yes I am!"

His only answer to her was to spin her, while she was still suspended off the ground, so that she was facing him. She clutched her shoulders for support and turned her cloudy eyes down to his bright sea-green ones. She frowned in annoyance and he gave her a devilish grin.

_Dammit, why does he have to be so cute?_ The horse master wondered silently, her expression softening at the sight of the Kazekage's face. Finally, after glaring at him for a few more moments, she sighed in defeat, relaxing in his arms and ran a hand softly through his spiky red hair, watching as the sun highlighted pieces of it so that it looked like she was letting flames lick at her fingers.

"Are you still mad?" he asked quietly, only half-serious.

"Furious," she replied in a completely calm and even voice that held no traces of fury whatsoever.

"So, what do you wanna do on your day off?" he asked her, still holding her.

She struck a thoughtful pose and held it for a few seconds before answering, "I want to just hang out by the 'pool' all day and be waited on hand and foot."

"Well, in case you haven't noticed, I didn't bring any servants with me," Gaara replied.

Aimi stared intently at the redheaded man that was holding her, needing no words to convey her thoughts; a startled look crossed his face when he realized what she had in mind.

"Oh no, I am not being your little servant-for-a-day," he said, lowering her so that her feet were on the ground once more.

"Yes," she said firmly, wrapping her arms around his neck, "You woke me up and made me all cranky, so you will be my paradise vacation servant today. Now, for starters, you can carry me over to that shady spot underneath the palm tree, and after that, you can find a huge leaf and fan me with it."

"Aimi, I'm not your cabana boy; I'm the Kazekage!" Gaara protested, attempting to dislodge her hold on him, but the girl's iron grip was unyielding.

"Not here and not today!" the black-haired girl sang triumphantly. Still clutching him, she jumped up into his arms so that he was holding her bridal style. "Now, take me to the palm tree, cabana boy!" She grinned at him.

He rolled his eyes. "Yes, miss," he said in a mocking tone, as he effortlessly carried her to her desired location and gently set her down in the shade of the tree.

The girl was quick to adjust to her little fantasy; she lay on her back with her eyes closed and her hands linked behind her head and sighed with content.

Gaara had to choke down his laughter. "I suppose you want that huge leaf fan now?"

Aimi didn't even bother opening her eyes as she considered her options. "Hmm…no, actually, I think I would rather have you give me one of those therapeutic massages; my shoulders and legs are really sore from yesterday, and if you want me to be in good shape to work with Kaen tomorrow, then you had better do it."

"So you're resorting to backing me up into a corner now?" Gaara asked, amused, as he moved over to the girl and knelt down by her side.

"Don't question my methods, cabana boy, just do as I say," she said as she rolled over onto her stomach.

He began to work on her shoulders with his hands; she was almost in tears, it felt so good. She could feel the many knots and the tension that she had accumulated over the years slowly being soothed away by the movements of his big hands. She sighed happily.

The whole time he massaged away her aches and soreness, Gaara had a huge grin on his face; he found it amusing that the girl was so easy to please and the pleasurable noises that she was making in response to his therapeutic hands were causing him to smile.

After nearly half an hour, Gaara was sure that Aimi had fallen asleep because she had stopped her sighing and moaning; he had a hard time believing that she was still tired, though. He gradually eased up on his massaging, until he stopped altogether.

He was trying to decide if he should just leave her to nap under the tree or carry her back to their little campsite, when she suddenly flipped over quickly and stared up at him.

"You missed a spot," she said.

"Did I?" he asked in a slightly exhausted voice; he had been sure that he had covered her entire back and her shoulders at least three times over.

But Aimi nodded insistently and she pointed to her mouth. "I need special attention here," she said, letting a tiny smile cross her face.

Gaara smirked. "Well then, you'll get all the special attention you need," he leaned down and kissed her softly; he could feel her smile against his mouth.

She felt him start to pull back, and she instantly lifted her head in order to maintain contact with his lips. He seemed surprised, but he quickly fell back into the kiss. Aimi wound her arms around his neck and lowered herself back down to the ground, pulling him with her. He tangled his hand in her long, jet hair, savoring the silky texture of it.

When they finally broke the kiss, he just looked down at her with his flashing sea-green eyes, smiling lightly; she was so beautiful, laying there sprawled out on the sand, her gorgeous black hair spilling off in every direction and her pearly blue eyes looking up at him adoringly.

She giggled as he nuzzled his face into her neck, inhaling her scent deeply while tickling her with the tips of his red hair. She brushed her fingers through his fiery hair and kissed him lightly on the cheek before hugging him close to her.

He rolled over onto his side and wrapped his arms around Aimi, one around her shoulders and the other around her waist, and drew her against him. She snuggled up with her head under his chin, burying her face into his chest and sighing contentedly while shutting her eyes and gently clutching the fabric of his shirt in her fingers.

Gaara smirked and rolled his eyes, still not understanding how she could fall asleep so easily after having slept for most of the day, but he closed his black-rimmed eyes as well.

The Kazekage and the girl horse master stayed cuddled up in the shade of the palm tree, next to the crystal clear spring, until the light of the shifting sun reached them, gently waking them from their peaceful slumber.


	20. Chapter 20

**Hi all! Here with another update!!! I hope you like it! I did the majority of this chapter during the time-slot that my english class usually occupies, but it was canceled today. I was really excited - my english teacher is really irritating! Writing fanfics is way more fun than english class anyways!!! XD**

**Enjoy!!! **

**-Keita**

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**A Flame in the Desert**

**-20-**

**I Spy**

The day of rest proved to be very therapeutic to both the horse master and her charge; they woke up the next day at their usual hour feeling completely refreshed and ready to go back to work.

Aimi went through her regular morning routine of feeding, watering and grooming the horses, then got Kaen ready to work by saddling him and clipping the lunge rope to his halter.

Gaara was practically bursting with excitement, which made it difficult for Aimi to hold back her laughter.

The red gold colt was ready to resume his fight against domestication, which he made evident by snorting and prancing, throwing an occasional strike with one of his front legs, as he was led out into the sand.

Aimi paid him no mind; she had counted on him acting like his old self after the day off. It was nothing she couldn't handle.

Gaara, on the other hand, was a little unnerved by his horse's spirited behavior. "See? I told you that you shouldn't have let him have the entire day off yesterday. Now he's going to have all that extra energy at his disposal and he'll use it against you. Honestly, I don't know why you never listen to me."

The horse master rolled her foggy blue eyes at the rambling redhead. "Oh be quiet, I know what I'm doing. If I'm not worried – which I'm not – then you shouldn't be worried either, got it?"

"Hn." Gaara turned his sea-green eyes down to the golden sand under his feet with a semi-pout on his face.

Once again, Aimi rolled her eyes. _These redheads and their attitudes, I swear…_

But secretly, she was also thinking that the Kazekage looked absolutely adorable with his bottom lip protruding ever-so-slightly and using the toe of his shoe to kick up sand like a five-year-old.

They made it to their usual working place. It always amazed Aimi that no matter how long or how often she worked the horse in this place, there was never any sign that the sand had ever been disturbed. Back in the Waterfall Village, there were worn paths cut through the fields of grass where the horses had been worked for years. The ground was stomped firmly down and no grass even attempted to grow there any more. But here, the wind shifted the sand so that any traces of their work was covered over or just blown away. It gave her an eerie but fascinated feeling when she thought about it.

Kaen was being extremely skittery, which was unusual for him. Sure, he wasn't exactly the model of a well-behaved, calm horse, but his normal demeanor was one where he was in an offensive mode. Now, however, he was dancing around his trainer, sidestepping behind her before stopping and staring off into the distance with his ears straight forward and his nostrils flaring.

A couple of times, Aimi and Gaara had stopped moving to try and see what the horse was seeing, but found nothing out of the ordinary. Still, the humans were starting to get a little nervous; Gaara was especially alert, and kept pausing to stare at the seemingly empty desert, even when the horse didn't.

They reached their destination, and Aimi let Kaen have the entire length of the lunge rope, allowing him to gallop in full, wide circles around her. Gaara positioned himself a further distance than normal away from them. He seemed distracted; typically, he was focused only on the girl and the horse. Kaen also appeared to be putting little effort into his work; he was in good shape, so the lunging was now a mindless task to him that required little mental concentration, unless he was devising new ways to misbehave.

Aimi didn't like the way that both of the redheads seemed to know something that she didn't; it was irritating and it made her nervous. So after working Kaen in both directions for about twenty minutes, which he was distracted for the entirety of, she stopped the horse and rounded on the Kazekage.

"Alright, tell me what's going on!" she demanded.

Gaara snapped out of his reverie and turned his surprised green eyes on the horse master. "What?"

Aimi scoffed. "Oh, don't play dumb with me! You and Kaen have both been all edgy and tense since we left the camp, and I wanna know why!"

"I have no idea what you're talking about," he replied in a low voice that was supposed to make the girl think that she was being ridiculous.

"Oh really?" Aimi cocked one hip out to the side and placed her hand on it. "Then why have you barely been paying attention, and why did you keep stopping to stare around when we were walking here? And why is Kaen acting all weird? Hmmm?"

Gaara glanced over at Kaen; sure enough, the fiery colt was staring off into the distance again, not even paying attention to the bickering humans. He looked back at Aimi, her jet hair billowing around her like a fierce storm cloud; it made her look rather fearsome.

He sighed and ran a hand through his blood red hair. "Something's coming," he said softly.

"What? What do you mean 'something'? What's coming?"

"I'm not entirely sure yet," he replied. "It's still too far away for me to be able to see it clearly. But when it gets a bit closer, I can use my sand to see what exactly it is. It's probably nothing though, just some travelers passing through."

The girl did not appear convinced though; disbelief showed in her pearly blue eyes. But she said nothing more, knowing that if the "something" that was coming towards them posed any sort of threat, she was well-protected. So she decided to simply carry on with her work, using her own philosophy that if Gaara wasn't worried, then she shouldn't be worried either.

She slipped the leather of the bridle over Kaen's muzzle and ears, sliding the bit between his teeth and buckling the throat lash. Keeping a firm hold on the reins, she moved to the horse's left side and tightened the girth up a notch to keep the saddle firmly in place once she was in it. The colt, normally giving her dirty looks at this point, didn't even appear to notice what was going on.

Aimi took advantage of the colt's occupied attention to climb carefully into the saddle, focusing her own attention on the powerful animal beneath her. But the horse made no move to attempt to dislodge her.

Even when she lightly tapped the red gold colt's sides with her heels, fully expecting him to explode the way he had two days ago, he merely took three tentative steps forward before halting again to stare in the same direction that Gaara was.

"Gaara," Aimi complained; the redhead turned his black-rimmed eyes on the girl. "He can't work when he's distracted. And you two are freaking me out. Seriously, you have no clue what's coming?"

The Kazekage appeared to be thinking for a moment, though the girl horse master couldn't imagine what there was to think about; either he knew or he didn't. Growing more irritated, she was about to say something when suddenly, a thin column of sand shot up out of the ground and into the air.

Spooked, Kaen took a huge leap to the side, nearly causing the girl to be thrown from the saddle.

"Easy boy, easy," she cooed soothingly to the colt before looking back at the redhead, "What the hell…?"

She stopped when she saw the sand that had come up off the ground coming together to form a sphere. She watched in amazement as the sphere then slowly proceeded to turn into an eyeball! A huge, floating eyeball!

"Ew! Gaara! The evil thing is here!" she yelled, pointing up to the massive, levitating optical sphere that was rolling around, turning its dark iris on her before rolling over to look in the direction that the horse and the Kazekage had been looking in.

"Relax Aimi, this is the way that I use my sand to spy. I can use it to see if I can catch a glimpse of whatever is coming towards us." He replied calmly.

"Blah! That's disgusting! Couldn't you make it something that stands out a little less and is less gross?!" She was practically gagging in the saddle; Kaen just stared, occasionally a muscle would twitch.

"Stop being so overdramatic," the redhead chided, "I need to concentrate."

Still immensely creeped out, but not wanting to keep him from discovering the cause of Kaen's and his own distraction, the girl kept quiet. She watched him as he sat very still, his own green eyes closed. The tension in the air was so great that she was afraid to even breathe, fearing that it would be too much of a disturbance.

At first, Gaara couldn't see anything from the floating eye's point of view, but he kept looking; he knew that he didn't get feelings like the one that he was getting unless there _was_ something really there. The fact that Kaen was sensing something only served to reinforce his feeling.

He was scanning the seemingly empty desert, looking for any signs of movement, but finding none. He was about to give up and wait a little longer before trying again when suddenly, he saw something. It was the most subtle of movements, and if he hadn't been so determined to find something, he might not have seen it at all. At first he thought that it was because he was searching so hard for something, he had imagined it. On a more careful watch, though, he saw that it was indeed real and not a figment of his imagination.

He broke the jutsu and the levitating eyeball reverted back to sand, falling back down to the earth. Gaara rubbed his forehead and muttered something to himself. Aimi couldn't hear exactly what it was, but she could tell from his expression and the tone of his voice that he wasn't happy.

"What?" she asked, still sitting on the vigilant Kaen's back, "What is it?"

Gaara sighed heavily and stood up, his sea-green eyes flashing. "We're going to be having company."

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**Ha! Cliff-hanger!!! Lol! Don't worry, I'll do my best to update soon!!! I don't wanna keep you all in suspense for _too_ long ;D**


	21. Chapter 21

**Thank you everyone for being so patient while I tied up the loose ends of my classes. This is the last week before finals, and I actually completely finished 2 of them on Wednesday, which is part of the reason I was too busy to update. But then...spring break...ahhhhh... I can't wait! Anyways, I feel bad for making you wait as long as I did...sorry! I hope you think that this chapter was worth waiting for. **

**Thanks also to everyone who reviewed the last chapter! I love you guys!!! Keep on reviewing, it makes me happy:D**

**-Keita**

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**A Flame in the Desert**

**-21-**

**The Speed of Sound**

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_Gaara sighed heavily and stood up, his sea-green eyes flashing. "We're going to be having company."_­­­­­­­­­­­­­

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"What does that mean?" Aimi demanded. "Sabaku no Gaara, you tell me what is going on right this minute!"

She was tired of his half-answers to her questions. She understood that he probably just didn't want to scare her, but she was more freaked out by not knowing what to expect.

Gaara looked up at Aimi; she could see the urgency in his eyes, even though his face was calm and impassive.

"It's ninja from the Sound Village," he said coolly, "They know we're here and they're heading towards us."

The horse master couldn't contain a small gasp of shock and worry; ninja from the Sound Village were known everywhere for their ruthlessness and cunning.

"They don't want you though," Gaara continued, "Just me."

"Great, so they'll just kill me and leave my corpse for the vultures. Perfect." Aimi said sarcastically.

The Kazekage's eyes glistened dangerously. "Don't be ridiculous; I'll protect you," he said.

Kaen took a few deep breaths, huffing and flaring his nostrils as he smelled the wind. He pawed the sand uneasily several times before going still again.

Aimi slowly slid from the horse's back, landing softly on her feet in the sand. The last thing she wanted was for Kaen to take off into the desert with her again, especially if it wasn't safe.

She held the reins in her hands loosely as she stared off into the apparently empty landscape before them; she couldn't help but become drawn in by the colt and man's concentration on the unseen threat.

Suddenly, they heard a sound. It started out low, like the growl of an enormous beast, but it grew gradually in pitch and volume until it was louder than the blaring of a siren. With the force of the sound came waves of sand, thrown up from the ground in a long wave.

Kaen reared back onto his hind legs as he attempted to jump away from the sand and the sound, but Aimi kept a firm hold on him.

"What was that?" she cried out to Gaara while trying to soothe the frightened horse.

"It was one of their attacks; those were sound waves," he replied.

The girl had heard about the strength with which the Sound ninja could unleash their attacks, but she still hadn't expected it to be so forceful.

Suddenly, another wave of sand and noise hit them, more powerfully this time, so that Aimi and Gaara actually had to shield their faces to keep the sand from getting in their eyes. Kaen tried to break his trainer's grip on him by jumping around once again, but it was to no avail.

"Aimi!"

She heard Gaara yell out her name, but she wasn't exactly sure why he did until she realized that there was someone standing right behind her. She had been so disoriented by the spray of sand and the high-pitched noise that she hadn't noticed the Sound ninja who sprang up behind her; he had been covering his presence with the sand/sound wave.

Kaen screamed ferociously and reared straight up into the air, striking out with his front legs at the invader. The colt's ears were pinned flat against his skull and his teeth were bared and the old burning fire showed in his eyes.

The Sound ninja was caught off guard by the fighting colt, and Kaen was able to connect his diamond-hard hooves with the ninja's shoulder and chest, sending him roughly down to the ground.

Gaara sprinted over to Aimi who had been running towards him, Kaen trotting briskly by her side. When they met, Aimi let out a breath and draped her arm across the colt's withers for support; the Kazekage put one hand on his horse's neck and used the other to tilt the horse master's frightened face up to his.

"Are you hurt?" he asked.

She shook her head. "Just a little shaken up; I'll be fine."

He pulled her against him and held her to his chest protectively while scanning the desert for more signs of attack. It wasn't long before he could discern a wave of sand heading towards them, just as the low, beginning sounds of the attack reached his ears.

Without so much as a second thought, Gaara released Aimi and dashed to Kaen's side, deftly swinging himself into the saddle and dragging the girl up behind him.

As if reading his master's mind, the fiery colt turned and dashed off, not even seeming to feel the weight of the two humans on his back.

Aimi's arms were wrapped tightly around Gaara's waist and her face was pressed into his back. She could feel Kaen digging into the ground under his feet, propelling himself forward with his powerful legs.

Suddenly, a sound very different from the ones that had been assaulting them reached her ears; it was the scream of a horse.

"Gaara! We have to go back for Hoshi and Tsunami! They're all alone!"

"They'll be alright; the attackers more concerned with us than the horses," he practically had to yell to make himself heard over the rushing wind created by Kaen's speed.

"Please!" The girl begged, "I can't stand not knowing that they're okay."

He looked over his shoulder at the wall of sand that was still rushing at them, then straight ahead once more. Fractions of a second later, Kaen was swerving to his left, moving diagonally so that he was going forward while running around the sand. They were now moving back the way they had come from, back towards the camp.

The red gold colt was still racing along as easily and strongly as he had from the beginning and was showing no signs of exhaustion.

Aimi sneaked a glance over her shoulder; the sand wave had continued going in the former direction and had sunk down into the earth. However, a new wave had started up after them and was gaining momentum.

They were closer to camp now; Aimi could hear the distressed cries of Hoshi and Tsunami clearly. Knowing that they wouldn't be able to distinguish her whistle from the ringing of the Sound attack behind her, she decided to just scream for them instead.

"Hoshi! Tsunami!" She shouted.

Within seconds, the two horses were making their way towards their flaming companion at fast gallops. Hoshi drew up right alongside Kaen and Aimi, having practiced many times on numerous horses, wasted no time in transferring herself from Kaen's back to the dark horse's in one quick and easy leap.

Gaara whipped around when he felt Aimi disappear from her place behind him, but relaxed when he saw her riding next to him instead.

The sorrel and dark horses matched Kaen's fast pace easily, for they were all equally terrified of the now-roaring Sound attack behind them.

"How long can they keep this up for?" The girl screamed over to the Kazekage. "Can we really outrun it?"

"If we manage to get far enough from the source of the attack, then it will lose strength and die down," he yelled back.

Aimi twisted her fingers into Hoshi's black mane and blinked; the wind striking her face was making her eyes water. She hoped more than anything that they would be able to outrun the attack and get far enough away from the attacker so that no one got hurt.

Just when the attack seemed less severe and the girl horse master thought that they were going to make it, the sand wall that had been pursuing them gave a final surge before dying down completely. It managed to catch Tsunami's hind legs – the sorrel horse had slacked off in his pace a little too soon – and he stumbled, nearly falling to the ground.

Aimi saw this and without even thinking, made Hoshi skid to a stop and spin around to go back for the other horse.

Gaara caught sight of this from the corner of his eye, but before he could even ask, Kaen had slid to a stop and spun on his haunches only to take off in the direction of the girl and the other two horses.

Tsunami wanted to keep running, but Aimi could see that he was injured; presumably, the sand had caused him to twist his ankle. She only hoped that that was the extent of the injury. Still, she jumped from Hoshi's back and ran to the limping sorrel horse, her dark steed followed nervously but dutifully.

She held Tsunami's head in her arms for a second, comforting him, before going to his hind leg to assess the damage. She gently ran her experienced fingers over the entire length of his white leg, checking for heat, swelling, cuts or any other abnormalities.

She found that he was sensitive around the fetlock area and there was a little heat as well as the beginnings of swelling. The girl wanted to get him back to the camp so that she could soak his foot in the cool spring water and treat him further.

She patted the young horse and walked next to him as he slowly limped over to where Hoshi stood a short distance away. The dark horse was shifting nervously, but stayed in place until Aimi and Tsunami reached him.

Gaara breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that the girl and the horses were alright, and Kaen slowed to a trot. He was about to call out and inquire after the white-legged horse when a huge explosion of sand occurred simultaneously with a deafening roar that sounded as though the earth itself were some monstrous beast that was going to swallow them all up.

Hoshi and Tsunami screamed fearfully, and Aimi, standing in between them, put one arm protectively around each horse's neck as she looked up with wide eyes at the huge sand wall that was obviously going to come crashing down on her at any second. She jumped up on Hoshi's back once more and urged him into a canter, refusing to leave Tsunami behind, but it wasn't nearly fast enough to outrun the sand.

Kaen was running again, right towards the three figures that were trapped in the shadow of the impending wall. Gaara's breath caught; he was afraid that they would be too late. The fiery colt poured out every last ounce of energy that he had into making it to his companions' sides.

The sand wave was coming down; Aimi could feel the granules against her face. She closed her eyes, pressing her face into Hoshi's dark neck.

Kaen slid to a halt and reared up on his hind legs, challenging the sand wall that was going to be the end of them all; he screamed out his fearlessness.

Gaara put out his hand, summoning up his chakra, hoping that there would be enough time to launch his attack before they were all killed.

_I have to at least save her_, he thought.

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**-Gasp!- Oh no! Another cliffy!!! Will Gaara save Aimi and the horses?! Will he and Kaen get out alive?!? Stay tuned to find out!!! ;D**


	22. Chapter 22

**OMG!! I am soooooooooo sorry for the uber-late update!! I feel awful...I'm not even going to make my excuses to you (even though I do have several valid ones ;P) and I promise to do my best to never update so late again!!**

**I hope you like the chapter!! R&R!!**

**-Keita**

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**A Flame in the Desert**

**-22-**

**The Ties That Bind**

He felt the chakra coursing through him; he felt the sand on the ground shifting to obey him, but it wasn't a very strong endeavor. The sand was already under the influence of the Sound attack. 

_How is it refusing me? _

Suddenly, he felt a surge of white-hot chakra race through him like his blood had caught fire.

Aimi saw the sand crash down on the two red figures and she halted Hoshi, watching in horror as Gaara and Kaen disappeared from sight. She let Hoshi and Tsunami move further away from the sand that was now rolling towards them lazily – repercussions of the wave that had smashed the Kazekage and his flaming colt.

After the after-effects of the attack ceased, the three stopped and waited, looking for any signs of their companions or their attackers; they saw none.

Very slowly, the horse master slid from her mount's back and whispered to the two animals to stay put. She tentatively walked closer to the spot where the man and horse had been swallowed up, casting watchful glances around the desert for the Sound ninja who had attacked them. It took her awhile to reach the place; she hadn't realized how far she and the two horses had made it.

Aimi noticed a large mound of sand and she cautiously reached her hand out to touch it. But all of a sudden, something grabbed her arm from behind. She shrieked and spun around, only to find herself face-to-face with an evilly grinning Sound ninja; Hoshi and Tsunami heard her scream and were making their way to her. 

"What do you want?!" Aimi asked, desperately trying to twist out of the ninja's firm grip.

He looked over her with hungry eyes. "Well, I _was_ just going to kill you, but now that I've actually had a good look at you, I think that I may keep you for other purposes." 

Aimi whimpered and squirmed as he stuck his tongue out and licked up her neck. She saw Hoshi and Tsunami standing a short distance away and thought, _If I can break his hold and get over to them fast enough, we should be able to outrun him and his attack. Hopefully, he doesn't have enough chakra left for a very powerful one._

The Sound ninja was still distracted by the beautiful girl in his arms, and he didn't notice that she was subtly shifting her weight around until she brought her leg up in a powerful kick – aimed right at his most sensitive spot. He grunted in pain and doubled over, clutching his groin, and Aimi took the opportunity to use the heel of her hand to bash him in the nose, causing his head to snap back and blood to gush from his nose.

The second that the injured ninja released her, the girl scrambled in the sand, trying to get over to the horses as quickly as she could before the man recovered.

Unfortunately, she felt a hand grasp her ankle, causing her to trip and fall to the ground. She looked over her shoulder and saw the Sound nin – now looking extremely angry and frightening with his face half-covered in blood – holding onto her and crawling up to her. She tried to kick out with her other leg, but he caught it and pinned it down with his upper body.

"Hoshi!" she screamed for her horse, who immediately started galloping over to her.

But before the dark horse could reach her, a loud cracking sound was heard along with the ferocious scream of an angry horse. 

And then everything happened too quickly for her to follow. One second, the Sound ninja was ready to presumably take advantage of her, and the next, he was sitting back, looking down with shock at a huge, sand-colored spike protruding from his chest. Aimi was frozen to the spot, even when blood dripped from the tip of the spike onto her shirt, tainting it. 

Next, a huge, flame-colored horse came springing out of nowhere and lashed out at the impaled ninja, easily striking him down with his perfectly-shaped hooves. The Sound ninja fell over to one side, and Aimi could see that he wasn't moving or breathing.

Hoshi had reached her by this time, and he lowered his dark head to Aimi, nuzzling her hair and face; she reached up and put her hands on his muzzle, still shocked at the events that had just occurred. 

The horse waited patiently while the girl circled her arms around his neck before slowly lifting his head, pulling her to her feet as he did. She held onto Hoshi for support as she stared at the horse and rider who had rescued her. 

The horse-rider duo looked remarkably like the pair that she had seen etched into the silver plate back in Gaara's office.

She didn't know if it was the heat, the shock or a combination of both that was making her hallucinate; she could swear that it was Gaara and Kaen standing before her. But she had seen them crushed by the sand from the Sound attack, there was no way they could have survived it. 

The rider dismounted his horse, who stood glistening like he had drops of molten sunrays and fire in his coat. He walked over to Aimi, who thought it a cruel trick of her mind to make her think that this rider even looked like Gaara. Slowly, he reached out his hand and cupped her cheek; he looked at her with intense sea-green eyes, evidently concerned.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

She couldn't answer; she had no breath to speak. It was him, it really was him! He was alive; Kaen was alive! The only thing that she could do… was cry. She cried out of happiness that he and Kaen were both alive and seemingly unhurt; she cried with relief that she and Hoshi and Tsunami were alive; she cried out all of the fear that she had felt, knowing that everything was alright now. 

In one swift movement, Gaara pulled Aimi against him and hugged her tightly, gently shushing her as she cried into his chest. After several minutes, Gaara picked Aimi up and somehow re-mounted Kaen. They rode at a walk back to the camp; Hoshi and Tsunami following obediently.

Aimi had been reluctant to detach herself from Gaara when they arrived back at camp, but Tsunami was still limping slightly, and she knew that she had to take care of the young horse's foot. She kept a hold of the Kazekage's hand, wordlessly telling him that she wanted him to go down to the spring with her. The three horses followed their trainer and riders without any resistance; they were all exhausted.

Once at the water, Aimi back Tsunami so that his back legs were submerged up to his hocks, where the white on his legs ended. 

Gaara had stripped off his shirt, now dirty and torn, and walked Kaen and Hoshi into the water deep enough so that it lapped at their bellies. He cupped the crystal water in his hands and poured it on the horses' necks and backs, letting it dribble down their sleek bodies and washing away the sand and sweat. 

Once they were clean and shining again, Gaara led the way back to camp where he gave Hoshi and Kaen some hay to munch on. The dark horse went straight for the food, but Kaen nickered to his rider, who came over to hold his head and stroke his red cheek. 

The fiery colt sighed contentedly and his eyes closed halfway; Gaara smiled as he ran his hand down Kaen's face. This was the scene that Aimi and Tsunami came back to. The sorrel horse was walking better, but there was still a slight hitch in his step that would let any knowledgeable horse person know that something wasn't quite right with him. 

The girl horse master let the horse join Hoshi and Kaen, and while he was happily eating his hay, she sat down and began digging through one of her saddle bags.

"What are you looking for?" Gaara asked as he came to sit beside her.

"I brought some herbs and plants that will help Tsunami with his foot. It will make the heat and swelling go down and he won't feel any pain from it," she murmured in reply, setting out a small vial of what seemed to be shredded green leaves, some gnarled, brown roots, and a wooden mortar and pestle with primitive carvings of horses running around it. 

Aimi tore off pieces of the roots and tossed them in the bowl; she added in some of the leaves and she even put a little bit of sand in. Finally, she added some water from one of their water bottles and began to mash and grind it all together. The mixture turned a weird yellowish color, but it smelled good; kind of earthy with some spiciness.

She walked over to the sorrel horse and spoke softly to him before smearing the mixture all over his ankle. Kaen and Hoshi looked at her interestedly before resuming their eating.

Gaara noticed that Aimi kept her eyes down while she walked back to her work station and began clearing up and re-stashing her supplies. He wasn't irritated that she wasn't looking at him…but he couldn't honestly say that it didn't bother him. 

He leaned forward so that he was on his hands and knees and slowly crawled over to where she was sitting in the sand until his face was level with hers. She still didn't look up at him.

He reached out a hand and tilted her face so that she was forced to look at him. Clouded blue met sea-green as their eyes connected.

"What's wrong?" he asked her gently.

Aimi's eyes shifted down to the ground. "Nothing…"

"There's something bothering you…tell me what it is."

The girl sniffed before looking Gaara straight in the eyes again. Then without warning, she launched herself at him and threw her arms around his neck, pressing her face into his shoulder and sobbing. 

"I…th-thought that…y-y-you and Kaen were…were…DEAD!" she wailed.

The Kazekage was a little startled by her sudden reaction, but he couldn't help smiling as he lifted his arms to encircle her shaking form. 

Aimi sobbed on. "I-I-I wouldn't have known w-what to d-d-do…I was s-s-s-s-so SCARED!!"

Gaara had to bite down hard on his bottom lip to keep himself from laughing. It wasn't that he thought it was funny that Aimi had been so scared…he just thought she looked so damn cute the way she was clutching at his shirt – he had put on a new one when he returned from bathing the horses – and how her face got all flushed, and the little sniffles she made, and the big tears that were rolling down her smooth cheeks. 

She looked up at him for a second, hiccupping, before smashing her face into his shirt and saying…_something_; Gaara couldn't make it out because her words were muffled and distorted since she spoke into him rather than to him. 

"What?" he asked, barely able to contain the amusement in his voice.

Aimi lifted her face again, a deadly-serious look on her face. "I said I love you and if you ever scare me like that again then I will kill you myself!"

Unable to fight it any longer, Gaara lost himself in a fit of laughter. Aimi looked stunned; she had just made one of the most severe threats of her life and he had the nerve to _laugh_ at her! However, the open-mouthed, shocked look was quickly replaced with a jaw-clenching, furious pout. 

"Don't laugh." She muttered.

"I-I'm sorry," he gasped, "It's just that…you looked so serious and it was…well, really cute. I take you very seriously." He finished, grinning.

Her angry expression faded to one of exhaustion; she slumped against him and he pulled her into his lap, wrapping his arms around her again.

They sat like that for awhile. Aimi's attention was diverted to the horses when she heard a soft nicker. She looked over Gaara's shoulder to see Kaen standing with his ears pricked forward staring at the two humans on the ground. 

"You did it. You really rode him," she commented softly, still watching the fiery horse. 

Gaara turned his head to look at his colt as well. "Yeah, I didn't really even think about it or what could have happened if he hadn't listened; I kind of just…did it. It felt like the right thing at the time. I suppose that if you think about it now, it was kind of reckless."

Aimi shook her head. "You're his rider and he knows it now. He would never put you in harm's way."

"When we were caught under that sand wave…" – Aimi shuddered at the memory and he tightened his hold on her slightly – "I couldn't manipulate the sand like I normally can; it was already being controlled by the Sound attack. No matter how strong my chakra was, there was nothing I could do. But then, I felt more chakra. It wasn't mine though, it was like white fire; it actually burnt from the inside," his voice grew distant for a moment, as he relived the memory. "And suddenly, I was strong enough to raise up the sand as a protective shield for us."

"It was Kaen's chakra you were feeling," Aimi explained. "He's always had a strong aura about him, but it was so scattered and wild before. Now that he's learned to control and behave himself, his chakra is more controlled as well."

"I've never heard of anything like that before."

"It's not an uncommon thing between horses and the people who they choose to obey as their riders. The horses don't want anything to happen to their riders, so they'll do anything to protect them. Sometimes, they even seem to share thoughts and feelings with their riders."

A thoughtful look came over Gaara's face as he studied his horse. Aimi followed his gaze over to Kaen, but then shifted her pearly blue eyes to the Kazekage's face. She just stared up at him while he remained unaware of it, at least until she reached up to touch his face with her slender fingers. 

He smiled softly and slowly intertwined his fingers with hers, turning his face to press a kiss to her wrist before leaning down to lightly kiss her lips.

"I meant what I said though," Aimi said, "I'm not a fighter like you are, so I know you feel the need to protect me. But don't risk your life for me, because you're so much more important than me."

He was about to protest, but she silenced him by laying her fingers on his lips. 

"If anything were to happen to me, there would be a few ends left untied, but, ultimately, life would go on; but if anything happened to you, the entire village of Suna would fall apart. I can't let you take that risk for me; after all, I'm just a horse girl from the Waterfall Village." She smiled weakly.

It was Gaara's turn to quiet the girl. He took her face in both hands. "Aimi," he said seriously. "I'm perfectly capable of looking after myself and you. I will never let anything happen to you. I promise."

The black-haired girl's eyes sparkled before she threw her arms around the redhead in a tight hug. He smiled as he ran his fingers through her lovely, silky black hair. 

"I think," he whispered, tickling her ear, "That it's time we headed back to the village."


	23. Chapter 23

**Ugh, I have really got to work on more consistent updates! I'm sorry for the way overdue update!! And I promise to work so hard and hopefully get another chapter up way sooner than this one was. **

**Ick! School is just being terrible (I blame physics!) and I started a new job where they have me work 11 hour shifts over the weekend, so that's why this update came so late. I was just trying to readjust my entire life and now that everything seems to be in order and I have a good schedule going, I will be able to write more. **

**Anyways, I hope you enjoy the chapter and you're not too mad at me to leave a review!! **

**-Keita**

* * *

**A Flame in the Desert**

**-23-**

**Story Time**

Aimi slept snuggled in Gaara's arms that night, waking up every so often just to make sure that he was still there. He had no problem staying up all night; it had been an every night thing for him, after all. He simply held on to her, absentmindedly running his fingers through her silky black mane of hair as he stared into the little fire before them.

When the sun finally rose and the fire was burnt down to glowing embers, Gaara gently disentangled himself from her and laid her on the sand, making sure that she was covered with a blanket before going to the horses and feeding them.

After going down to the spring to get some water for the horses and for his and Aimi's breakfast, he began packing a few things into the saddlebags, preparing for the journey back to the village.

Aimi woke up a short time later and blinked in the bright sunlight as she looked around for Gaara. She found him checking on Tsunami's foot, gently feeling the flesh between his fingers and noticing that most of the swelling and all of the heat was gone, thanks to the poultice that Aimi had rubbed on it the day before. The horse stood patiently with his leg completely slack, submitting to the Kazekage's inspection.

"How is he?" she asked groggily, getting to her feet and rubbing her eyes while shuffling over to where the red-headed man and the sorrel horse stood.

"He's fine," Gaara replied, wrapping his arm around Aimi's shoulders when she reached his side and pressed her face into the space between his shoulder and neck. Her soft breathing tickled his skin and he grinned as he patted the horse's neck. "Go eat some breakfast and then we'll head back."

Aimi nodded obediently. She might have fought against his gentle command, but she was still tired from the stress of the previous day and the practically sleepless night. Her appetite, however, was as healthy as ever and she wolfed down her breakfast.

When she was finished, she got up to help Gaara with getting the horses saddled and ready for departure, only to discover that he already had it done.

"You're getting pretty good at this," she commented, noting how every piece of tack on each of the three horses had been adjusted perfectly, right down to the last little strap; Kaen wore Tsunami's saddle, since the white-legged horse was still recovering.

Gaara just smirked, inwardly ecstatic at her praise, and watched as she mounted Hoshi, squirming a bit as she got comfortable in the saddle. He went to Kaen's head, running his fingers lightly over the colt's gleaming muzzle and speaking softly to him.

Aimi grinned at this; it was like watching herself and Kumo… but in red.

Finally, the Kazekage swung easily up into the saddle atop his flaming colt. Kaen stayed perfectly relaxed, as if he had been doing this for years. But the girl horse master knew that if anyone besides Gaara or herself tried to ride him, the colt would remind that unfortunate of just how feral he could still be.

"Right, let's go," Gaara said, turning Kaen to start walking in the direction of Suna.

They walked along at a steady but easygoing pace, for Tsunami's sake. Plus, there was no huge rush to get back to Suna; Gaara had reassured Aimi that the immediate danger was gone and they would be back in the village long before there was another attack, if one came at all.

He let out a sigh; he was freaking bored! Aimi was being rather silent; he guessed that she was still tired and she looked like she was thinking hard about something. The scenery wasn't exactly captivating either, and there was no way he was even going to try singing, or even humming for that matter.

He turned his head slightly to look over the dark-haired girl with his sea-green eyes. "Aimi?"

She snapped out of whatever reverie she was in to look at him with semi-startled eyes. "Hm?"

"Will you tell me a story?"

She grinned. "What? A story? Are you serious?" Her grin faded a little bit when a small scowl appeared on his face. "Oh, you are serious. Okay then, what kind of story do you want?"

He brightened up visibly upon hearing her agree to do it, not caring that though he was twenty-one years old, he was begging like a child at bedtime. "Do you have any good legends or stories from your village?"

Aimi thought hard. "Umm… there's a legend from my clan that my father used to tell me," she offered.

Gaara nodded and settled back in his saddle, ready to listen.

Aimi took a breath. "Okay, here it goes: A long, long, long time ago, when the earth and its inhabitants were all still fairly new, all the animals could speak to and understand each other; birds could converse with fish, a butterfly could tell a joke to a cow and a deer could reason with a wolf.

"Then one day, a new animal showed up: Man. Though he walked on two legs, had no fangs, fur or claws and seemed nothing like any of the other animals, he could still speak to them and understand their replies.

"One night, Man was sitting with some of the animals, gazing at the stars, and he said, 'I feel bad because I am weak compared to the rest of the animals; I have only a fraction of the physical strength of you, Bear, and my eyesight is not nearly as keen as yours, Eagle. I cannot even keep myself very warm with a fur coat like you can, Buffalo, or climb trees as well as you can, Leopard. I am not fit to survive out here and I am afraid that soon, I will be killed and eaten, like the other weak animals.'

"The animals pitied Man and wanted to make him feel better, so old Tortoise said, 'You will not perish, Man, because we are your friends and we will help you survive.'

"The animals began to offer their services to Man. 'I will help you fight off strong enemies,' Bear told Man.

"Eagle said, 'And I will keep watch from high in the sky and tell you of any danger.'

"Beaver offered to help Man build a shelter that would be sturdy all year round and Wildcat said that he would bring Man fresh fish every day so that he would never go hungry. Finally, Horse, the animal that Man thought the most beautiful and graceful of all the animals stepped forward to offer his gift. 'Anytime you need to run from danger, Man, you may call for me. I will come to you and you may climb upon my back while I carry you away from danger.'

"Man felt truly blessed by all of the gifts that the animals gave to him and their promise to help keep him from harm. And for a long time, this arrangement worked for all.

"However, Man was soon given Woman, and they had many children. Man had taught Woman and their children how to talk to the animals and he also told them of the animals' promises to him. Soon, Woman and the children began calling upon the animals for their services; the animals began to grow weary from answering the many calls of Man, Woman and their children every day, but they didn't complain, for Man was their friend and they wanted him to live happily.

"But as time wore on and Man and Woman's children had children of their own who also began calling on the tired animals, the creatures decided that something needed to be done, for the animals were spending all their time and energy taking care of Man and his large family while their own animal families were suffering. So it was decided that wise old Tortoise would go and speak to Man, accompanied by Eagle and Horse, who Tortoise knew that Man admired most.

"Tortoise told Man about the animals' sufferings while they strove to keep their promise to Man and his family. But Man had grown to expect the animals to give him what he needed, like they were servants, rather than friends who had decided to help him, and he dismissed the three animal ambassadors.

"Tortoise was very sad as he reported the outcome of the meeting to the other animals. 'It seems that Man has forgotten that we are his friends and not his slaves,' he told them. Many of the animals began grumbling amongst each other, saying that their own young wouldn't survive if they continued to spend all their time helping Man and his family. Soon, a group of the animals came to the agreement that from then on, they would not help Man; when he called for them, they would not answer.

"This greatly saddened two of the creatures more than the others: Horse and Dog. Horse and Dog were very fond of Man and though they felt hurt by his misuse of them and their animal friends, they still felt the need to remain loyal to the promise that they had made him long ago. The other animals tried to dissuade them, telling them that they were being foolish and allowing themselves to be used, but Horse and Dog stood firm and continued to faithfully answer Man's calls.

"It wasn't much later that Man died of old age; Horse and Dog were very sad and mourned his death. Man's children and grandchildren, who had been taught to speak to the animals, still called out to them when they needed them, but only Horse and Dog answered. The other animals had become wild.

"Years passed, and Man's children got older and his grandchildren had children and their children had children and with each generation, Horse and Dog, still loyal to the family, noticed that fewer and fewer of the children were able to speak to and understand them. This confused the two animals, so they sought out old Tortoise deep in the forest to ask him about it.

"Tortoise thought that Horse and Dog were fools for continuing to serve the family, even after Man's passing, but the two beasts had always been good friends of his, so he explained to them, 'Man's descendants are forgetting how to speak to you because they no longer see you as their equals; in their eyes, you are beneath them, and hardly worth speaking to.'

"Although Tortoise's words hurt Dog and Horse deeply, they knew he spoke the truth, yet still they returned to Man's family whenever they were called. Soon, there was only one child left in the family who could speak to the animals; he saw them as equals or even greater beings than himself, for they were full of power and beauty and had the ability to survive on their own. This child's respect for Dog and Horse, who were now little more than slaves in his family's house, allowed him to speak to and understand them, which, in turn, gave him an advantage. Dog and Horse had many, many children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren as well and they answered the calls of Man's family just as their fathers did. But when they arrived, Man's family could no longer communicate their needs to the families of Horse and Dog, and it angered Man's family that the animals couldn't understand them. This caused them to use force and violence to make the animals do what they wanted them to, which made Horse and Dog's families distrustful and frightened of Man's family. Only the one child was able to translate for both sides and keep the peace.

"This child grew and had his own children. He taught them how to speak to the animals, but he had seen how the gift had ruined the relationships between his brothers and the animals, so he was careful to also teach his children to respect the animals and treat them with kindness, for they were greater than men and without them, they would have all died long ago.

"So it was that this child's descendants were able to carry on speaking to the animals. Along the way, some of them forgot the importance of respect and lost their gifts, but some retained it and used it appropriately. The understanding child is said to be the founder of our clan and that is why we have the ability to tame animals. We can speak to them and they understand us and know that we don't wish to exploit them, we are merely asking them for their help, for they are far stronger than we are and should be respected."

Aimi's story had fascinated Gaara. "So that's why you whisper to the horses all the time," he realized out loud.

The girl nodded, the warm breeze playing with her long black hair.

They took a short break around midday to water the horses. They still had quite a way to go though, and Gaara insisted that they only take about ten minutes, not wanting to be caught under the harsh sun for too long.

Aimi checked on Tsunami's foot while Kaen and Hoshi drank greedily from the water skins that Gaara offered them. The sorrel horse had been walking along easily, showing no signs of pain or discomfort and Aimi knew that he would be just fine in another day or two.

She sighed and wiped some beads of sweat from her forehead before using her hand to shade her eyes against the sun and peer off in the direction that they were heading.

Gaara noticed her and quietly walked over to stand behind her; he wrapped his arms around her waist and rested his chin on her shoulder. He lightly kissed the side of her neck before asking, "What are you looking for?"

"The village," she said, "I thought I'd be able to see it by now."

"Not quite yet," he replied. "We're getting closer though. Within the next two hours or so, you should be able to see it."

"Ugh! This was way more fun when we were racing." The girl let her hand fall and spun so that she faced the Kazekage. "Can't we just fly there or something? I'm sick of walking," she whined.

Gaara chuckled. "Well, I do have the ability to summon up a sand cloud that could carry us back to the village," – Aimi's face lit up and she clasped her hands hopefully – "But, there's no way the horses could fit on it." He concluded as the girl's face fell and a very angered expression clouded over her features.

"Why would you get my hopes up like that?!" She yelled, nearly deafening him.

He scrunched his eyes and grated his teeth against the volume of her voice. "I'm sorry?" he tried.

Aimi let her breath out in a loud, exasperated whoosh. "Well, sorry isn't getting us back any faster; let's keep walking."

Gaara watched her for a second before shaking his head as he smiled to himself and climbing up on Kaen's back to continue on with their journey.

The first stars of night had just appeared when they reached the main gates of Suna. Aimi was dozing in the saddle, obviously something that she was well-practiced at; Gaara had to admit that he was impressed with her body's sense of balance, despite the fact that he had been sure that she was going to roll right out of the saddle a few times.

The guards called to have the gates opened for the Kazekage and the horse master and after some grating and grinding, the huge gates swung open and the three horses and their riders stepped into the village.

Gaara led the little caravan down to the barns, where Omo came to greet him.

"Kazekage-sama! I'm so pleased that you're back! I…" but the older horse master stopped and stared when he realized that Gaara was riding Kaen. "Sh-she did it…" he said, completely awestruck.

Gaara nodded before dismounting the fiery colt and handing Tsunami over to the older man. "This one had a bit of an accident; twisted his ankle. He seems to be doing fine, but he should be looked at and rested for another day or two."

Omo nodded and handed the sorrel horse over to one of the trainers who stood nearby. He looked back at Kaen, who was giving the man a stony glare. "Would you like me to take your horse in?"

But Gaara shook his head. "No, Omo-san, I'll look after him tonight, thank you."

"What about this one?" he gestured to Hoshi, standing still and looking around with an alert and happy gaze, while Aimi slept on, now slumped forward across the dark horse's neck.

The redhead couldn't suppress a grin at the sight. "I'll look after them as well. Thank you, Omo-san."

Omo bowed and headed off to his home, his duties for the day being done.

Gaara whistled softly to Hoshi, who followed as he led Kaen into the barn. The dark horse waited patiently in the aisle while the Kazekage unsaddled Kaen in his stall. The colt sighed contentedly before thrusting his muzzle under his rider's arm. Gaara grinned and held his steed's head while softly stroking him for a few minutes. Then he left Kaen to get some rest while he tended to Hoshi.

He was able to slip the dark horse's bridle from his face without disturbing the sleeping girl on his back, but he knew that he would have to get her off of the horse's back if he wanted to get the saddle off.

He shook her shoulder gently. "Aimi? Aimi?" he whispered.

The girl cracked one pale blue eye open. "Huh?" she said groggily.

"We're home," he said softly.

She yawned. "M'kay," she mumbled before closing her eyes again and settling down on Hoshi's neck to continue sleeping.

The dark horse looked back at the Kazekage with amusement; the man just sighed and reached up, gently but firmly grasping her shoulders and sliding her from the saddle. She instinctively slid her arms around his neck and pressed her face into his shoulder while at the same time wrapping her legs around his waist.

Gaara had to spend a few seconds adjusting his hold on her before he was able to reach out and finish unsaddling Hoshi with one hand, since the other was occupied with holding the black-haired girl.

Finally, it was all done and Gaara left the barn, still carrying Aimi, and walked to his apartment. He managed to wrestle the door handle so that he was able to push the door open wide enough to slip in. He didn't bother with any lights; he knew he would probably just end up knocking them over anyways. Instead, he went to the bedroom and laid Aimi down on the soft bed. She instantly snuggled deep into the pillow and blankets, and somehow, in her semi-conscious state, she managed to kick off her shoes and jeans before reaching up for Gaara.

He climbed onto the bed with her and settled down right next to her. As soon as her hand had come into contact with him, Aimi had shifted to drape her arm and a leg across him while putting her head on his chest. She then allowed herself to relax and go into one of her rare comatose-deep sleeps.

Gaara just smiled as he kissed the top of her black head, wrapping his arms around her slender figure before closing his own blackened eyes and letting out a long sigh of contentment. It was good to be home.


	24. Chapter 24

**A Flame in the Desert**

**-24-**

**Family Reunion**

Sleeping in a normal bed for the first time in what seemed like an eternity did wonders for Aimi and she awoke feeling completely refreshed. She blinked her hazy blue eyes a few times, adjusting them to the spill of brilliant sunshine that fell across her and lit up the room that she had spent the night in…which definitely wasn't hers.

She sat up in the bed – also not hers – and looked around with confusion. The zombie-ish, semiconscious state that she had been in when she and Gaara had arrived back at the village seemed to have had memory-inhibiting powers on her as well.

Very cautiously and quietly, Aimi slid out from beneath the sheets, snatching up her pants from the floor. As she was struggling to pull them on, she hopped over to the circular window in the room and peered out: she was met by the sight of midday Suna.

_So,_ she thought, _we did make it back last night. But that still doesn't explain whose room this is…_

"Shouldn't you finish doing one thing before you start another?"

Aimi squeaked in surprise and spun around quickly, tangling her legs in her partially-occupied jeans and losing her balance; she very nearly fell right over, but managed to catch herself at the last second. Once she was certain that she was stable, Aimi looked up with annoyance at the intruder.

Gaara was leaning casually against the doorframe, watching her with a highly amused expression on his face. "See what I mean? You should have finished putting your pants on before attempting anything else," he said matter-of-factly.

The girl just glared at him as she thrust her other leg into the pants and buttoned them up.

"Now," Gaara said, moving over to her and taking her in his arms, despite her pouty glare, "Do you want some breakfast?"

At the mention of food, Aimi's irritation dissipated and she nodded vigorously in response to his question. "Yeah, I'm starving! But it has to be something quick, I really wanna go and find the kids; I've missed them."

Gaara led the way, toting Aimi along by the hand, down a flight of stairs, along a hallway with huge windows, and down some more stairs before finally coming to a stop when they reached a large kitchen with a stone floor that felt cool on Aimi's bare feet.

An elderly woman with tanned, leathery, wrinkled skin and frizzy gray and silver hair was stirring a large cauldron over a fire; it reminded Aimi of a scene from one of the fairy tales that her mother read to her when she was a little girl. The old woman turned and caught sight of them standing in the doorway, and when she did, she gave an excited little cry and threw down her large stirring device, lifting the hem of her skirt so that she could rush over to them as quickly as possible, which wasn't very quickly at all.

"Oh! My little fireball! You're back! When did you get home?!" She cried, grabbing Gaara in a crushing hug, much to Aimi's shock.

The Kazekage didn't seem surprised in the least though. However, his face was starting to turn slightly blue as he gasped out, "Suki-obaasan…can't…breathe…"

She merely gave a little old woman's giggle as she released the redhead, holding him out at arm's length and giving him the once-over. "My boy, you're skin and bones! Sit down, sit down! You need some **real** food in your belly!" She bustled back to her cooking cauldron, grabbing a bowl as she did, and ladled some sort of thick, delicious-smelling concoction into it.

Gaara led Aimi to an ancient, but sturdy-looking wooden table and they sat side-by-side on the wooden bench that was under it.

The old woman's dark eyes sparkled as she slid the bowl in front of Gaara, whose own sea-green eyes lit up upon seeing the bowl's contents; he dug in eagerly. She smiled as she watched him eat, but her smile fell as soon as she set eyes on the girl at his side. She reached out and rapped him once, hard, on his red head with her ladle.

"Ow! What…?" he began.

"Young man, where are your manners?! Did you leave them out in the desert?! First, you fail to introduce this young lady to me and then you proceed to stuff your face right in front of her without offering her anything?! I know you were brought up better than that!" She shouted as she waved her ladle menacingly.

Aimi almost burst out laughing as she watched the mighty and fierce Sabaku no Gaara, Kazekage and ultimate weapon of Sunakagure, cowing under this old woman's cooking ladle.

"Obaasan, I'm sorry, I…I thought…"

"Obviously you've been out in the sun for too long, your brain's gone all mushy! Now you get that poor girl something to eat right this instant, mister, she's skinnier than you are!"

Gaara jumped up from his place and in two great strides, made it over to the bubbling cauldron.

The old woman sat down in his place next to Aimi, all traces of her former fury gone and replaced by that squinty-eyed smile. "Now, my dear, since that impudent young whelp has apparently forgotten his manners and didn't introduce us, I suppose we must do it ourselves; my name is Rui Suki. I've been the head cook in these kitchens since this one's father was in diapers and I helped bring up him and his siblings after their poor mother died. Now who might you be? I don't remember my little Gaara-kun saying that he had a girlfriend," she winked mischievously.

"Obaasan…" Gaara groaned, a slight pink tinge to his cheeks as he returned from the cauldron with a steaming bowl in his hand.

Aimi giggled. "I'm Uma no Aimi; I came from the Waterfall Village with my three younger siblings to help the Kazekage with his horse." She accepted the bowl from Gaara, who settled himself on the other side of the table, across from her, and tentatively slid his own bowl from in front of Suki and dug in again.

Suki's eyes widened. "Oh, you mean that demon horse? Let me tell you, if I was a few years younger, I'd go out there with this ladle and I'd give that creature a piece of my mind! He has no right to go around biting people and kicking at them the way he does!"

The girl laughed. "Well, I don't think he'll be doing much of that anymore; we worked out most of the kinks in his system and he's behaving much better now."

Suki humphed. "He had better; I don't want to hear about anymore broken bones or bruised bottoms because of that naughty horse!"

Aimi looked at Gaara, who had wolfed down his bowl of food and was getting up for seconds; she smiled and lifted her spoon. The food in the bowl appeared to be some sort of mush. She stuck a spoonful of it in her mouth and let it sit for a second, tasting it. It was delicious! It tasted like honeyed wheat with some sort of sweet spiciness and a light, fruity tang. No wonder Gaara had been so eager to eat when he saw what he was being fed! It didn't take Aimi long to finish off her first bowl and Suki demanded that Gaara get her a second.

Meanwhile, the old woman set about making them some tea and setting out some bread as well. She then returned to her kitchen chores, humming a tune softly as she stirred, chopped, sliced and diced.

Once both Aimi and Gaara's appetites had been sated, they stood and thanked Suki for the wonderful meal. The old woman gave a crinkly-eyed smile and grabbed Gaara up in another bone-crushing hug.

"It's so good to have you back here, now don't go running off on any more adventures for awhile, understand?"

"Yes, Obaasan, I understand," the redhead replied, rolling his eyes like an exasperated teenager, but unable to conceal the little smile on his lips.

Suki then turned to Aimi and put her arms around the black-haired girl. "And you, little missy, you don't let this one or his naughty horse push you around. If they start to, just give them a little push back and they'll stop, trust me," the old woman gave an impish grin. "Now off you go, you two; behave yourselves and be back in time for dinner!"

As soon as they stepped out of the building and into the streets of Suna, Aimi turned and looked at her red-haired companion with bewildered blue eyes. "Care to explain what that was all about?"

Gaara grinned. "Yeah, Suki has been in that kitchen since before my father was born. When Temari was born, my mother didn't recover right away, so my father gave her to Suki to look after. He thought she did a good job, so she got to take care of Kankurou after he was born too. They started visiting her in the kitchens all the time, and they also started calling her 'obaasan'.

"My mother died giving birth to me, so Suki had her hands full caring for me, trying to provide some comfort for Temari and Kankurou and working full time in the kitchen. But she did it; she's really good with kids. Even when I went through my…'dark' phase when I was younger, she never stopped being there for me. If she was ever afraid of me then, she never showed it, at least not around me. And now that the three of us have grown up, she's all about us getting married off and having kids of our own so that she can raise them too." He laughed.

Aimi smiled as she remembered her parents and their best friends, the three little ones' mother and father, who had been like a second set of parents to her. She thought of the days when she had had someone to take care of her; now, she was the caretaker. It was a big responsibility, but nothing beat that feeling of pride that she got whenever one of the kids achieved something after having worked hard on it for some time, or the warm, fuzzy feeling that took over her when they all snuggled up around her and fell asleep, lulling her to sleep as well with their soft breathing.

The redheaded man and the black-haired girl had just rounded a corner and were heading towards Temari's apartment to get the kids, when a familiar, ear-piercing shriek of happiness was heard along with the sound of thundering hoofbeats.

Aimi spun around to see a cloud-white horse charging through the streets, ridden by three small figures.

"Aimi!" she heard Puchi's voice shout out.

"Slow down!" Aimi yelled back.

Kyoukou was the driver and with a low "Whoooooaaaaa…" he managed to bring Kumo to a sliding stop right in front of the Kazekage and the horse master. Puchi didn't even wait for the horse to stop completely before leaping from his back into her guardian's arms.

"Oof!" Aimi's breath was nearly knocked from her as she caught the small, flying girl.

"We missed you Aimi!" Puchi cried, hugging the older girl fiercely.

Aimi smiled and hugged the tiny girl back just as tightly as she was being hugged. "I missed you three too! I was just coming to find you, but you've saved me the trouble. Where's Temari?"

By this time, Hogosha and Kyoukou had slid down from Kumo's back as well.

"Temari had a mission," Kyoukou explained, "So we've been staying with Kankurou."

Just then, they heard a shout, "Aha! There you are, you little monsters! Now give me back Karasu's head!" Kankurou was storming over to where the little group was standing, toting his headless puppet's body along with him.

"Not until you agree to do a puppet show for us!" Kyoukou shouted back, "Puchi has never seen one!"

"I told you, these puppets aren't the kind that you do puppet shows with," Kankurou whined, "They're ninja puppets; they shoot poisonous needles and crush people!"

Kyoukou grinned madly and said darkly, "Then I hope your precious Karasu can get by without a head!"

Aimi could hardly believe that Kyoukou was making such morbid threats; still, she supposed that it shouldn't come as that much of a surprise, for where Puchi was involved, no threat was too great.

Kankurou looked at the tiny trio doubtfully. "I don't think you even have Karasu's head. You probably just hid it somewhere, didn't you, you brats?"

Kyoukou shook his spiky black head. "Show him, Hogosha," he instructed his younger brother.

The brown-haired boy smirked and opened a little knapsack that Aimi just now noticed he had slung across his back. He lifted out an ugly wooden puppet's head, the eyes rolling around in their sockets, and held it up for the puppeteer to see clearly.

"Think we don't have it now?" Kyoukou shouted, crossing his arms triumphantly over his chest and grinning like a fox.

Kankurou moaned. "C'mon, kid, it's not a toy!"

"Say you'll do the puppet show and you can have it back!" Kyoukou shouted.

"But…"

"Say it!" The little boy demanded; Aimi blinked in surprise at the ferocity in his voice.

Kankurou sighed, and Gaara could tell that his brother was defeated. "Alright, alright, fine, I'll do the freaking puppet show."

"Good," Kyoukou smiled, "I'm glad that we could come to an agreement. Hogosha, give him back that ugly thing."

Hogosha nodded, grinning from ear to ear, and walked over to where the puppeteer was standing, tossing him the head like a soccer ball.

"Now," Kyoukou continued, "We'll be over tomorrow at noon for the show; that should give you enough time to work on your material and have it ready to present to us. We also expect to have lunch served to us so that we can eat while we watch the show; nothing fancy, of course, some sandwiches and fruit and popcorn will do fine."

"Anything else, your Highness?" Kankurou grumbled.

Kyoukou struck an overdramatic thinking pose. "Hmm…no, I think that will be all. Oh, and Kankurou," The puppet master paused and looked at the boy, "If you fail to meet with any of the terms that I've just given you, you don't even want to know what my brother and I will do to your puppets. All I can say is that you'll be looking for more than just one head by the time we're finished."

By this time, both Aimi and Gaara's mouths were hanging open. They looked at each other and it was obvious that they were both thinking the same thing: _Holy shit! What happened to this kid?!_

Kankurou moped off, muttering to himself about demonic little children and inspecting Karasu's head for damage. Kyoukou and Hogosha looked at each other with victorious smiles on their formerly-innocent faces, then turned back to Gaara and Aimi, who was still holding Puchi.

"Uhhh…so…I can see you've learned some things since I've been gone," Aimi said, not really sure what else to say.

"Ahem – blackmail – ahem," Gaara coughed.

Kyoukou eyed the Kazekage suspiciously. "You should drink some water to soothe that cough, Kazekage-sama."

"Thanks, I think I'll do that," Gaara replied.

"Anyways," Aimi said brightly, breaking the sudden tension, "Why don't the three of you to get cleaned up and then we can go do something fun?"

"Aimi, I wanna show you my new ninja skills!" Puchi said excitedly. "Me an' Hogosha an' Kyoukou have been practicing; Temari taught us!"

"Alright, Puchi, once you've got all that dirt scrubbed off your face, you can show me your new ninja skills." Aimi put the small girl down and moved to her white horse's head; he nickered and lipped at her hand affectionately. "Hi you, I've missed you," she said to him softly.

The horse sighed and put his nose under his master's arm while she scratched his cheek and ears. He followed the small crowd as they walked, and Aimi couldn't help thinking that they must look like some strange family: Gaara, with his flaming red hair and black-rimmed eyes, her with that ridiculously long hair and her lighter skin, three little children who were running and jumping all over the place and who were obviously not from the desert, and a white horse following them like a giant dog.

Unable to help herself, Aimi took Gaara's hand in her own; he looked at her with some surprise, but leaned in a kissed the top of her head while giving her hand an affectionate squeeze.

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**A/N: "Obaasan" means grandmother (at least that's what the site I looked it up on said). Also, if there are any mistakes in my suffixes, whether it's meaning or the way I use them, please let me know! I'm not gonne lie, everything that I know (or think I know, lol) about proper use of suffixes comes from reading other fics. **

**Please don't forget to review!! Thanks for being so patient!! :D**

**-Keita**


	25. Chapter 25

**Sorry for the late update! Thanks so much for being patient and a HUGE thank you to everyone who has been reviewing the story for me!! **

**I hope you like the chapter, I know it's short, but hopefully, the questions it brings up will leave you in a state of eager anticipation as to what the story's outcome will be! **

**Enjoy! R&R to let me know what you think!! Thanks!!**

**-Keita**

**A Flame in the Desert**

**-25-**

**Admission**

Aimi spent the rest of the day with her young charges and her white horse; she had missed them so much and she felt a little guilty about leaving them behind for as long as she did, but the open desert was no place for them and she had been grateful that it was only her and Gaara there when the Sound ninja had attacked.

Gaara stayed with the little family for as long as he could before being torn away by his work. Kankurou and Temari had managed to hold down the office for the most part while he had been away, but there were a couple of issues that only he could deal with and that needed to be addressed.

When one of his assistants came to find him and beg him to take care of the business that needed to be taken care of, he rolled his sea-green eyes and sighed in annoyance.

"Guess there's no more putting it off," he groaned, "I'll see you later." He kissed the girl horse master's black hair before stalking off with his assistant.

A tiny, faint smile remained on the girl's lips as she watched him go. The three children around her noticed the interaction between the two adults and they immediately began to question their guardian.

"Aimi," Kyoukou began.

"Hm?"

"Do you and the Kazekage love each other?" he asked casually.

She was caught off guard and didn't respond right away. "Well," she said slowly, knowing that she had to choose her words carefully. "We care about each other very much…" she thought back to the night in the desert when they had each made their confession of love for the other, "And…well, I- I guess we do love one another…"

"Ha! I told you!" Puchi said triumphantly to her older brothers.

"Oh, man, I didn't think it was true," Hogosha said, slightly put-off that his baby sister had greater observatory powers than he did.

This shocked Aimi beyond belief. "Puchi…you…how did…what made you think that…?"  
The little girl giggled as she hugged Kumo's clouded muzzle. "I saw you two making lovey-dovey eyes at each other. And you were all like, 'Oh, Kazekage-kun, I _looooove_ you!'" The small girl animated her voice to sound like an overdramatic, love-struck woman and she chose Kumo's nose to represent Gaara, and she squeezed him tightly before planting a kiss on him.

Aimi was mortified; she blushed tomato red and groaned as she covered her eyes in embarrassment, but she couldn't help a large grin from spreading across her face at her youngest ward's antics.

The small girl and two boys laughed at their guardian's reaction and continued to question her about her relationship with Gaara.

"So does that mean that you're getting married?"

"Can I be the flower girl?"

"Are we gonna live here in the desert now?"

"Aimi, when you have babies, we can take care of them just like you take care of us!"

At this, the horse master stopped the chatter. "Whoa! Hang on, slow down a sec! First of all, Gaara and I haven't been in love long enough to get married and definitely not long enough to have children. Secondly, we're not staying in the desert forever; as soon as I finish up with Kaen, we're going back to the Waterfall Village, like we always do."

The kids were quiet for a moment. Then Puchi said sadly, "But I wanna be the flower girl."

Aimi smiled and ruffled the small girl's dark hair affectionately. "Tell you what, when I do get married, you will be my flower girl, no matter what."

Puchi's deep brown eyes sparkled with joy. "Really? You promise??"

Aimi laughed. "Yes, I promise. Now, what should we do next?" she asked, hoping to divert the focus from the issue of her marriage.

"Ninja skills! Ninja skills!" The three children chanted, running in the direction of the training area that they had used when Temari had been teaching them.

A giggle escaped the horse master. "Alright, show me what you've got," she leaned in to whisper to her cloud-white horse, "You've been watching them; how scary is it?"

The horse huffed and shook his head, his long mane flying out as he did.

"That's what I thought," Aimi sighed, patting Kumo. "Come on, let's go." The white horse walked placidly beside his rider as they followed behind the overly-energetic, eager children.

The kids had surprised their guardian with a fairly impressive display of ninja fighting. Temari hadn't taught them much more than some basic punches and kicks, as well as blocking and defense tactics – all taijutsu.

As she watched them, she couldn't help thinking about the questions that they had put to her earlier. When Temari had sought her out to help with Kaen, the horse master had thought it was just going to be another job; she would go, get the horse under control, then go back home, like always. She certainly hadn't counted on romance springing up.

She also hadn't counted on her charges becoming so accustomed to the drastic change in environment so quickly; they really seemed to enjoy it here. She knew that they had taken a strong liking to Temari and they loved tormenting Kankurou; the heat didn't seem to bother them much – their skin was already much tanner than it normally got in the summer in Waterfall – and she knew that the sand kunoichi's influence and instruction left them all with the desire to be ninja of Suna.

She wondered what Gaara would do when she left. She wondered if he thought she was going to stay, or if he expected her to leave like planned. He had told her he loved her; she knew of his past and from what Temari had told the horse master of her brother, that he didn't throw the term '_love' _around lightly, so she assumed that his feelings were sincere. If they were, then would he just let her walk away, even if it meant that they might never see each other again? More importantly, if he tried to stop her from leaving, would she stay? Could she leave everything that she had grown up with – the memories of her family and her past life – behind to start a new life in the desert?

Aimi's thoughts were interrupted when she heard Kyoukou yelling out a challenge to two older boys who were passing. She smiled to herself; sometimes, that boy was too over-protective for his own good. She stood up and walked over to stop him before his insults infuriated the two Suna boys enough to actually take up the little green-eyed terror on his challenge.


	26. Chapter 26

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**Omg! Can you ever forgive me for not updating in months?? I am so, so, so, so sorry!! You've all probably given up on me T-T It's my own fault, I know, but it makes me sad nonetheless! **

**If it helps at all, as soon as finals were over, I had to pack and go home and I spent my summer working 3 jobs and trying to balance my time between my girlfriends, my horse, my family and these 2 boys who wanted to be my boyfriend. Plus I was fostering a baby bird and a 2 week old kitten (not at the same time, thank God!) and I had to wake up three or four times per night to feed them! It was exhausting! I was like the living dead! **

**Anyways, I'm back at school now (ew!) and things are a little calmer...well, they're more structured at least. I have a real schedule, not just whatever! **

**In any case, I'm back with the second to last chapter of this story that's been a work in progress for almost a year now (OMG!) and I'm asking you to overlook my human flaws and leave me a review after you read this chapter! I would really love it if you did! **

**If you haven't read my other story "The Sum of Black & White", I invite you to do so. I am working on the sequel to that and I have 3 related oneshots posted as well.**

**I hope you enjoy this chapter and that I haven't lost all of my original audience!**

**Thanks!**

**-Keita**

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**A Flame in the Desert**

**-26-**

**Decisions**

Aimi had walked with the kids over to Kankurou's place for their puppet show. Unwilling to be away from them for longer than she needed to be ever since her return to the village, she had been staying in Temari's apartment with them. She also thought that it was the best thing for her and Gaara to have some distance; it would make it a little easier for her to leave when the time came.

Kankurou had opened the door to them and groaned in dismay when he saw Kyoukou's fierce emerald glare burning holes in him.

"Did you get everything that we agreed on?" he asked impudently.

The puppeteer sighed and ran a hand through his shaggy brown hair. "Yes."

"Good! Come on Puchi," Kyoukou took his baby sister's hand and pushed past Kankurou, with Hogosha tailing them. Obviously, the boy felt very much at home here.

Aimi smiled sympathetically at the man in front of her. "I'll be at the barns if you need me," she said softly, turning and heading back outside.

"We're waitiiiiiiinnngggg…" came Kyoukou's annoyed voice.

"Yes, little tyrant, I hear you; I'm coming," the puppet master replied venomously, closing the door.

The black-haired girl absentmindedly kicked a rock along as she walked to the horse-training grounds. Her thoughts about her departure from Suna and Gaara were really distracting her, and she didn't even notice that she was about to run into someone until it was too late and she felt a strong arm steadying her as she stumbled back.

"Whoa, easy there; are you alright?"

Aimi looked up into the weathered face of Omo. She smiled warmly at the expression of concern that he wore. "I'm fine; thank you Omo-san. I was just thinking too hard, I guess."

The old horse master chuckled. "That's why I've never bothered much with thinking; it's far too distracting."

"How are your horses coming along?" the girl inquired, turning to watch as the twelve young horses worked in the grounds.

"They're coming along nicely; we've gotten all of them broken to saddle and now I've got my trainers working mainly on conditioning them." Omo looked down at the girl horse master beside him. "I looked in on Kaen this morning; I must say, the change is absolutely remarkable."

"Is it?" Aimi asked. She knew that the fiery colt had changed, but she hadn't thought it that drastic; he still had the same fierce spirit and temper.

Omo nodded. "He didn't try to kill my trainers; it's a huge improvement."

Aimi laughed. "I think he's finally realized who it is that feeds him and that you never bite that hand."

The older man chuckled again. "In any case, you've done a fine job with him. I must admit that when you first showed up here, I had my doubts; you seemed so gentle and sweet, and Kaen is so strong and fierce."

The girl nodded her black head understandingly. "You're not the first to think so, and I know you won't be the last, but as you can see, I've got a few tricks up my sleeve."

The two horse masters talked and joked for a while longer before Omo was called away to assist one of his trainers and Aimi continued her journey to the barn.

Kumo greeted her with a throaty nicker when she stepped inside the barn; Aimi went to him and held his white head in her arms, stroking his cheek lovingly and whispering softly in his ears. The horse's ears flicked back and forth, listening to her words, as he sighed contentedly and closed his eyes.

Gaara paused in the aisle when he saw the girl horse master and her horse; they contrasted each other starkly – her dark hair standing out even more against Kumo's snowy coat.

Sensing the Kazekage's presence, Kumo's eyes opened and his ears went forward, causing Aimi to look up. Hazy blue met sea green and they just stared wordlessly at each other for a few moments.

"Hi," he said, walking over to the stall door and reaching out to pat the cloud white horse.

"Hey," she replied, stroking her horse's muzzle as he rested his head on her shoulder.

Gaara had sensed Aimi's withdrawal from him recently and he was confused by it and wanted answers, but he didn't want to aggressively confront her about it either.

"I came out here to ride Kaen," he explained.

Aimi smiled and nodded. _Like he needs to give a reason for being out here…he's the Kazekage, he can do what he wants!_ She thought.

"I was hoping that you would come with me and help me out if I run into any problems; he's still a bit unpredictable."

"All horses are unpredictable," Aimi said with a smile, pushing a piece of her black hair behind her ear. "Of course I'll come with you."

Gaara hoped that the look of relief on his face wasn't _too_ evident as he went for his colt's saddle and bridle and then to his stall. Aimi was already there, fawning over the spirited horse, who was affectionately lipping at her jet hair; apparently, Gaara wasn't the only one who had been won over by the girl's patience and firm resolve.

The Kazekage draped the saddle and bridle over the stall door and entered it, moving to stand beside Aimi and pat the colt's neck. The dark-haired girl smiled softly at him before leaving him in the stall alone with his horse to go and ready her own steed.

Once Kumo and Kaen were both saddled and their riders were mounted up, the two moved their horses onward at a steadily-paced walk, heading towards the gigantic outdoor riding ring. When they reached it, Aimi leaned over and unhitched the gate, walked Kumo in, waited for Gaara and Kaen to walk in, and then re-hitched it, all without dismounting her cloud-white horse.

The flaming red desert horse was snorting and prancing while the cloudy white horse was walking along placidly beside him. The riders were quiet; Aimi would occasionally throw out little pointers to Gaara such as "loosen up on your right rein a bit".

A sudden breeze picked up, pulling up a wispy stream of sand from the ground and giving the already flighty crimson colt an excuse to toss up his head and take a short leap sideways, flaring his nostrils and dancing around, feigning fear. The horse's redheaded rider instinctively tensed up and tightened his hold on Kaen's reins.

Aimi looked over at the pair and smiled as she reached out to lightly touch the Kazekage's shoulder. "Relax," she instructed in her soothing voice. "If you're tense, he'll be tense. You have a solid seat; just keep calm and ride it out."

Gaara did so, and sure enough, after a few seconds, Kaen relaxed back into his energetic-but-controlled walk. A content smile turned up the corners of his mouth. He looked over at Aimi; she appeared so comfortable and at ease that he wasn't sure whether or not she was just thinking or asleep.

"What are you thinking about?" he asked softly.

Aimi seemed to snap back into the present. "Oh, nothing really. I was just thinking about home," she replied.

Gaara's smile faded a little. "Oh, you miss it?"

The girl nodded. "Yeah, I always miss it when I'm gone. This is by far one of the longest stretches of time that I've been away for. I'm glad that I brought the kids with me."

The Kazekage decided that this would be a good time to bring up the question that had been hanging above his head for some time now. "So, how much longer are you planning on staying for?"

"That eager to get rid of me, huh?" Aimi grinned.

Gaara smiled. "Never; I just want to know how much longer I've got before my horse realizes that the one person who can control him is gone and he falls back into his old habits."

Aimi's jaw dropped in horror and her eyes glinted dangerously. "I swear, if you let him go back to being a savage beast and let all of my hard work go to waste, I'll be back here _so fast_, it'll blow your mind...but it won't be pretty."

The redhead couldn't keep the mischievous smirk from spreading over his lips. "Well, now I see where Kyoukou learned his threat-making and glaring skills."

The girl horse master just kept on giving him a cold stare. "I'm not kidding."

"Maybe it's part of my plan to make you come back," Gaara said suggestively. Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 !-- / Style Definitions / p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal mso-style-parent:""; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; page Section1 size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0; div.Section1 page:Section1; --

Aimi narrowed her eyes at him suspiciously. "That would be a terrible trick and I don't think I would ever forgive you for it."

"I'm sure that my charm and good looks would win you over in no time, just like it did this time," he said confidently.

"You're not that charming," the girl muttered, still, she couldn't keep a little grin from turning up the corners of her mouth.

They rode in comfortable silence for the most part after that; each of them pretending that everything was going to remain the way that it was right then.

After their ride, Aimi stopped by Kankurou's to get the kids. The puppeteer looked positively beat and all the black-haired girl could offer was a sympathetic smile and a genuinely appreciative "thank you".

"You know," Kankurou said in a mock suggestive tone, "Since you missed the show earlier, you could stop by once you get the little monsters to sleep and I'll give you a private show."

Aimi laughed. "Maybe another time; I've actually got some packing to do."

Kankurou winked and shrugged. "The door's always open."

"I'll keep that in mind," she said jokingly as she waved.

Back at Temari's apartment, the girl horse master was tucking the children into bed – Puchi had fallen asleep the second her head hit the pillow and Hogosha wasn't far behind – when Kyoukou softly asked, "We're leaving, aren't we?"

Aimi looked down into the boy's emerald eyes. "Yes; we always leave eventually. You know that."

Kyoukou's expression was troubled, but he said nothing.

"Kyoukou?" Aimi said with concern, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," he replied, "It's just that…I thought that maybe…we would stay here."

Aimi blinked. "Do you really like it here that much?" she asked.

He nodded. "I thought you did too; I thought you really liked the Kazekage."

She sighed. "I do…but I have so much responsibility back in Waterfall; I can't just not return."

"We could always go back home, get our stuff and move here for good," the boy suggested.

Aimi smiled a little and ran a hand through Kyoukou's spiky black hair. "Maybe. It wouldn't be that simple though; if we did move here for good, it wouldn't be for a while."

"So that means we have to leave soon?"

"Yeah, no later than the end of the week. So if you're planning on torturing poor Kankurou anymore, you'd better make sure that you do it soon."

The boy grinned and his guardian bent down to kiss his forehead. "Good night," she said softly, closing the door behind her as she exited the room.

Once out of the children's bedroom, Aimi let out a huge breath and flopped down on the sofa, draping her left arm over her hazy blue eyes

Temari walked in from the kitchen carrying two steaming mugs of green tea, which she set on the table before settling down next to her friend. She studied the darker girl for a moment before saying bluntly, "He really does care a lot about you, you know."

"Huh?" Aimi lifted her arm and opened her eyes so that she could give the sand kunoichi a confused look.

"Gaara. He wants you to stay; so do I."

Aimi was about to argue her point as to why she couldn't simply decide to stay when she was cut off.

"I'm not saying you have to decide right now; I just want you to know that we've all grown a bit attached to you and the three little monkeys. We're all going to miss you when you leave. I'm just throwing that out there." Temari smiled and took a sip out of one of the mugs of tea.

"Oh, sure, put the guilt trip on me," Aimi muttered sarcastically, rolling her eyes.

Temari stuck her tongue out at the other girl. "I'm just saying!"

Aimi laughed, "I know, I'm kidding!"

The sand kunoichi began laughing too, and the two girls stayed up late talking and joking and just being girls.


	27. Chapter 27

**Hello everyone! I know what you're all thinking: HOLY CRAP! SHE'S FINALLY FINISHED THIS THING?!?! IT'S ABOUT DAMN TIME!!!! Yes, this is the final chapter of A Flame in the Desert, and it is long overdue, so I apologize! I wouldn't be surprised if all the awesome readers I started out with have dwindled off, thinking that I was never going to finish. Unfortunately for this story, I not only got hit with writer's block too often, but I also got sidetracked by other fics and ideas. I hate it when that happens! **

**Anywhoo, I would like to thank everyone who has read and reviewed this story! THANK YOU!!! And I hope that they are still around so that they can read the conclusion!!! **

**It would be so awesome for me if you all reviewed after reading this, just give me some general feedback on the story as a whole, on the ending, on how horrible I am for making you wait, etc... **

**But enough from me; go forth and read the finale of A Flame in the Desert! (And then go and read my other fics if you haven't already done so! XD)**

**Thanks everyone!**

**-Keita  
**

* * *

**A Flame in the Desert**

**-27-**

**Until Next Time**

"I still can't believe you're leaving us," Temari mumbled, pouting while leaning on the stall door with her chin in her hand.

"Oh, quit moping," Aimi said with a crooked smile, looking over Kumo's back at the sand kunoichi as she brushed her horse's cloudy coat. "It's not like I planned to stay forever in the first place."

Temari sighed wistfully. "Yeah, I know; but I was hoping that you and my brother would fall madly in love and then the two of you would get married and you would stay here forever and be my really cool sister-in-law and the kids would be the bane of Kankurou's existence and torment and humiliate him every day of his life. Now my dreams will never come true."

"_Your_ dreams?! And here I was thinking that you were truly holding out for mine and your brother's happiness…silly me," the girl horse master's eyes sparkled with amusement and she bit her lip to keep from laughing.

"Ugh, see?! This is why you have to stay! Who else am I gonna pick on?! Kankurou's too easy and Gaara's too serious all the time; they're no fun," the blonde's pout returned.

"I'm sure you'll find someone else to bestow your twisted sense of humor on," Aimi said in a mock reassuring tone, moving to Kumo's head so that she could comb out his long, silvery forelock.

The sand kunoichi heaved another sigh. "Yeah, I guess…" she looked at the other girl. "I am gonna miss you though; it's been nice, you know, having another girl to hang out with and just do girly things with. I like hanging with the boys, but they get so boring and predictable after a while."

"Yeah," Aimi said in agreement. "I feel the same sometimes. The kids are great and all, don't get me wrong, but I haven't had any real friends – who are my age – in a long time."

The girls continued to talk while Aimi finished grooming her horse. Temari left to train for a little while when the girl horse master moved from Kumo's stall to saddle Hoshi.

"Just don't leave before I say good-bye," the Sand kunoichi warned.

"Cross my heart," Aimi swore, using her index finger to draw an imaginary 'X' on her chest. She led Hoshi out of the barn and climbed into the saddle, intending on taking one last ride across the sand on the desert horse.

Hoshi trotted lightly to the village gates, and a strong feeling of déjà vu washed over Aimi as she thought back to when she and Gaara had been side-by-side on their horses, waiting to ride out into the desert for Kaen's training. A little smile formed at the corner of her mouth at the memory.

The dark horse flared his nostrils in excitement, anticipating what was to come. Aimi leaned forward a little in the saddle and whispered into the horse's ear, "Go!"

Needing no further encouragement, Hoshi leapt forward eagerly, digging his feet deep into the sand for traction. His powerful legs became a dark blur as he gained speed; his rider's long, black hair streamed out behind her and because of the wind whipping her face, she had tears streaming from her eyes, making it nearly impossible for her to see, but she wore the biggest smile on her face.

Aimi heard an equine scream coming from behind her, so she looked over her right shoulder and saw a brilliant, crimson flicker that was moving quickly her way. She drew up the reins a little, checking Hoshi's speed. It wasn't long before her vision cleared enough for her to make out Kaen's striking form flying across the sand and Gaara's red hair whipping about wildly.

Upon seeing another horse that appeared to be competition, Hoshi threw his head up and surged forward at full speed again; accepting the challenge, Kaen continued racing ahead. The two riders glanced at one another and Aimi shot a playful grin at Gaara, who just smirked in response.

The horses thundered onward, their hooves not even seeming to touch the sand as they flew along. They went like that for several minutes, until Kaen and Hoshi, both drenched in sweat and breathing heavily, slowed their breath-taking gallops to smooth canters, then to light, bouncy trots and finally, energetic walks.

"Well, that was fun," Aimi said to Gaara, a little breathless herself and wiping the moisture from her eyes.

He nodded in agreement, running a hand through his wind-tousled red hair. They both rode on in silence for a while; it was the Kazekage who was the first to speak.

"Why are you leaving?" he asked, keeping his eyes focused on the vast expanse of desert in front of him.

Aimi looked over at him, a little taken aback at the bluntness of his question. After a moment, she answered, "I can't stay; I have a whole life back in Waterfall. I mean, yeah, I'm out on the road a lot, but I still have a home and a business and other important things that I can't just abandon."

"Aren't I important to you?" he asked quietly, finally turning his sea green eyes on her.

"Of course you are," she replied quickly, "I don't want you to think that you're not. But you, of all people, should understand that sometimes you have responsibilities that you can't just ignore."

Gaara sighed and looked ahead once again; he knew she was right. If their situation had been reversed, he would be leaving her to return to Suna.

"Hey," she said, drawing Hoshi to a halt – Kaen followed suit – and looking at him earnestly. "I really don't want to leave; the kids are happy here, I'm happy here…but I can't stay and I am really sorry."

"Well what about in the future?" he asked. "Would you ever come back and stay?"

Aimi wanted so badly to tell him yes, that she would rush home to Waterfall, pack her things, sell off her business and hurry back to the desert to be with him, but she knew it wasn't that simple. "I can't say for sure," she answered. "If I was able to, it wouldn't be for quite a while."

"I can wait," he said.

The girl horse master shook her head. "No, I wouldn't want you to wait for me in case I can't make it."

"But, I thought you just said…"

"Sometimes, your duty to others outweighs your personal wants," she said slowly, looking at him imploringly, begging him to understand.

And he did. He understood that while she might not be responsible for an entire village, as he was, Aimi still had people depending on her and waiting for her to help them. He could tell that the conversation was taking a big emotional toll on her, and Gaara didn't want her to feel worse about leaving than she apparently already did. He could tell that she really did care deeply about him and that she wanted to stay with him; she had told him that maybe one day, she would be able to come and be with him, and right now, that was the best he could hope for.

Aimi was looking out at the desert before her, biting her lower lip lightly and doing her best to fight off the tears threatening to fall. She felt her hand being engulfed in a larger one and looked over at Gaara; he had a small, sympathetic smile on his face that told her that he understood. She smiled back at him thankfully, giving his hand a light squeeze.

He lifted her hand to his lips and gave it a tender kiss; Aimi's heart gave a little flutter and she smiled warmly.

They didn't speak anymore after that; they just rode on in comfortable silence across the sand. When both Hoshi and Kaen had regained their energy and were prancing about restlessly, the two riders turned them back towards the village and let them go once again; the two colts ran unchecked, they were merely streaks of color moving across the desert.

When they reached the village gates, the horses were once more soaked in sweat and their nostrils flared red. The girl and the Kazekage steered their mounts towards the barns; when they arrived, they stripped the horses of their saddles and bridles, and, using buckets of water that had been drawn up from the well, washed away the sand and sweat from the horses' coats until they glistened once more.

"I'm gonna miss you," Aimi said softly to Hoshi. The dark horse nickered lightly at her as if he was agreeing and rested his chin on her shoulder; a horsey hug. The girl kissed the horse's black muzzle and held him for a few moments longer. She reluctantly left Hoshi's stall and went over to Tsunami's; the chestnut horse lifted his head when he heard her approaching his stall, and he eagerly made his way over to her.

Aimi let herself into the stall and reached out to stroke the young horse's cheek before kneeling down to check on his formerly injured leg, just to make sure that it was still doing well and hadn't flared back up again. The foot seemed totally normal and Aimi was pleased; she stood up and patted the chestnut colt's neck, then gave him a kiss on his velvety nose before leaving his stall.

A few hours later, Aimi had Kumo saddled and her few belongings packed; all she needed now were the kids. Temari and Kankurou appeared, along with the three children; Aimi had to smile at the sight of each of the two boys holding onto one of the sand kunoichi's hands while little Puchi sat on Kankurou's shoulder, her arms wrapped around his neck in a loving embrace.

The sand siblings stopped when they reached the girl horse master and her cloud white mount; Kankurou gently removed the tiny girl from his shoulder and deposited her on the ground at her guardian's feet.

Puchi turned and looked up at the puppeteer with tears glistening in her big brown eyes. She cried out as she attached herself to one of his legs. "Kanky! I don't wanna leave you! I'll miss you!"

Kankurou bit his bottom lip as he looked down at the little black-haired girl clinging to his pant leg, and Aimi noticed that there was a little moisture at the corners of his eyes. He knelt down, taking Puchi's shoulders in his big hands and looking her in the eye. "Hey," he said soothingly, "Don't cry; we'll see each other again, okay? You can come and see me whenever you want and I promise to visit you if I'm in the neighborhood."

Puchi sniffed and ran her arm across her eyes, wiping away some of the wetness there. Her bottom lip still trembled though, and her eyes still shone with tears yet to be shed. A thought suddenly striking him, Kankurou dug through his pockets, fishing around until he found what he was looking for. What he withdrew was a small, jointed wooden doll that was wearing a scrap of rough cloth that was supposed to serve as clothing. The puppeteer handed the doll over to the little girl standing before him. She looked at it, then at him, gingerly taking it from his hand when he nodded reassuringly. Puchi stared at the doll for a moment, then at him, before throwing her tiny self forward into Kankurou's arms, hugging him tightly. Even Temari had to discreetly wipe a tear from her eye at the sight.

"All right, buddy, we've gotta get moving," Aimi said gently to her youngest ward.

Puchi didn't let the puppet master go, so instead, he stood up, still holding her and handed her over to her guardian. Still clutching her doll tightly, Puchi pressed her face into Aimi's shoulder and the older girl could feel the moisture from her tears seeping into her shirt.

The boys were not quite so emotional in their good-byes, although Aimi could tell that they were sad to be leaving. They each hugged Temari and Hogosha gave a little smile when he shook Kankurou's hand; Kyoukou hesitated at first, but then gave a devilish smirk and seized the puppeteer's hand, shaking it heartily.

"Bye Kanky," the younger black-haired boy said with a toothy grin, knowing that the puppeteer secretly hated the nickname that Puchi had given him.

However, even though Kankurou and Kyoukou had been at odds ever since the little boy had shown up in Suna, and even though Kyoukou had done everything he could possibly think of to make the Suna shinobi's life as hellish as he could, they both secretly would miss one another.

Aimi looked around at the faces of those who had come to see them off; not only were Temari and Kankurou there, but Omo and some of the other horse masters and their assistants, along with an assortment of grooms and stable hands. The Waterfall horse master went along the line, shaking hands, giving out smiles and exchanging farewells with everyone. When she reached Omo, she smiled widely and extended her hand to shake his; she uttered a little squeak of surprise when the head horse master pulled her – and Puchi - into a tight hug. After a second, Aimi wrapped her free arm around the gruff, older man, returning the embrace.

He let her go and the two stood, smiling at one another.

"Good-bye, Uma no Aimi," Omo said, with a slight bow of his head. "Have a safe journey home and come back to us soon."

"Good-bye Omo-san," Aimi replied, "You take care as well; the Kazekage is very lucky to have you working with his horses."

With that final good-bye, Aimi turned back to her waiting steed, gently setting Puchi up in the saddle. The older girl looked around one last time at the faces surrounding her, all of them smiling, some with silent tears running down their cheeks; but he wasn't there. Aimi did her best not to let the disappointment show on her face, and she was sure that if anyone had noticed it, they would merely think it was because she was sad to be leaving.

She climbed up into the saddle behind Puchi, brushing her long, black hair behind her shoulder, and nodded to the two boys on the ground. "Let's go home," she said.

The boys and Kumo started up at a walk, moving towards the village gates, and followed by the group of Suna residents who were intent on giving the Waterfall group a worthy send-off.

The small party reached the gates and Aimi threw one last look behind her, searching, but he still wasn't there. So she silently resolved not to look back again, and turned her hazy blue eyes forward, in the direction of home. Her white horse continued to walk on, the two boys at his shoulder.

They went on like this for what seemed like hours. The sun hit its peak in the clear sky and beat down on them mercilessly. Aimi couldn't help thinking of the crystal clear, cool spring at the oasis that she had stayed in during Kaen's desert training. She remembered the fresh water, the shade from the giant tree leaves and the feel of Gaara's strong arms wrapping around her. She shook her head, clearing it of the memories, and instead turned her attention to her wards.

Halting and climbing down from her horse's back, she made sure that the special headwear that Temari had fitted each of the children with to protect them from the sun was properly secured and doing its job, then handed around a canteen of water, which they all drank a little from.

After their short break, Aimi was getting ready to re-mount Kumo, when she heard the familiar equine scream. Looking back in the direction they had come from, she saw the flickering, flaming figure in the distance. Her heart leapt in her chest and she left her horse's side to walk a few steps in the direction of the approaching figure.

She waited for a good amount of time before the horse and rider finally reached them. Kaen was nearly black with perspiration and his breathing was heavy, but he still had that familiar fire burning in his dark eyes. Gaara was also a bit breathless as he pulled up his steed and literally leapt down from the saddle – he wobbled a bit, his legs being tired from clinging onto his charging colt's sides for so long – and walked up to the black-haired girl. Wordlessly, he grabbed her and pulled her to him, catching her mouth with his in a searing kiss. She instinctively wound her arms around his neck, securing him to her; the three children's eyes nearly popped right out of their heads, they were so shocked at the passionate display involving their guardian that was occurring right in front of them.

When the two finally broke apart, each of them flushed and panting slightly, Aimi looked at him with some confusion in her eyes. "Why did you come all the way out here?" she asked.

He shrugged and replied, "I had to say good-bye."

The girl grinned a little. "Yeah, you missed the farewell party back at the village."

His expression turned more serious at that. "I'm sorry; I was dealing with some business matters and by the time I finished, Temari said that you had left over an hour ago. I rode out as fast as I could."

Aimi smiled sadly. "As romantic as it is that you rushed out here after me, I still can't stay."

He looked down. "I know," he said softly, "I just had to see you one last time and ask you to come back to me soon."

The girl had no idea what to say; she had told him that she could promise him nothing, not even that she would one day come back to Suna to stay. Her life was so filled with unpredictability and responsibility to others that she didn't know if the day would ever come that she would be free to make such a life-altering move.

She looked into his bright, sea-green eyes and gave him the one promise she could make. "I'll do my best," she whispered.

That was good enough for him; he gently took her face in his hands and pressed his mouth to hers again. Aimi fairly melted into him, not wanting to let him go. When he reluctantly pulled away, she had to bite her bottom lip to keep it from trembling.

He held her face in his hands and just looked at her for a little while, running his thumbs over her pale, smooth skin and memorizing every detail of her foggy blue eyes, the shape of her face, the texture of her light skin. He reached back with one hand and brushed his fingers through her silken jet hair, as he so loved to do.

A light nicker was heard, and Aimi looked over her shoulder to see Kumo, standing as patient as ever, but looking at her like he knew that someone had to remind her that she had to keep moving lest they all just remained there forever, as fixed as the mountains in the distance.

The girl detached herself from her love and went to her horse, stroking his cloudy cheek and she looked over at Kaen. The fiery colt stood, unmoving, and Aimi could tell by the way he watched his rider that she had accomplished exactly what she had intended when she first received the request from Temari to help her brother with his unruly colt. Kaen would follow Gaara to the ends of the earth and obey his every wish, with no thought of his own welfare. The image of the engraved plate with the warrior and his mount came to Aimi's mind. That was Gaara and Kaen now; the Kazekage had his steed, the magnificent, free-spirited, fiery colt that he had longed for.

She waited and watched as he re-mounted first, then she followed suit and before she had time to think about it, Kumo took off towards Waterfall at a brisk trot. Aimi clutched bits of her horse's shiny mane in her fingers. "Thank you," she whispered; Kumo had always been the stronger of the two of them, able to do things that Aimi would have not been able to do without him. Things like leaving the love of her life behind in the desert.

"Aimi," Puchi's small voice drifted up to her. "Are you gonna be okay?" The little girl asked her guardian with concern.

"I will be, Puchi; everything will be fine," the older girl replied, giving a reassuring smile. She didn't look back even when she heard Kaen's shrill voice ring out over the sand, just kept her gaze forward.

Gaara and Kaen watched them go until they were no more than a light blur in the distance. She was gone; Uma no Aimi was really and truly gone and for all he knew, he would never see her again. He glanced down at his colt; Kaen turned his head and gave his rider a knowing look, as if he was certain of what Gaara doubted.

The redhead reached down to pat his horse on his strong neck, before turning his back on the Waterfall travelers and facing Suna again. Gaara smirked as Kaen took a few prancing steps before springing forward into his full-fledged gallop, carrying him away from the girl he loved faster and faster as he ran for home.

_**Five years later…**_

Temari had gone up to the wall to check in with the guards on watch duty; that was when the figure caught her eye. At first she had thought that it was just a mirage, some sort of reflection of the sun on the sand. She called for a set of binoculars and got a better look at what it was coming towards them.

"Well, I'll be damned," she murmured as a smile slowly crept onto her face. She handed the binoculars back to the guard she had borrowed them from and jumped down from the wall, dashing through the streets towards the Kazekage's tower. She didn't even knock when she reached her brother's office doors, merely grabbed them and threw them open forcefully.

His red head shot up, startled, but his expression turned cloudy when he saw who it was. "Temari, why do you insist on making such dramatic entrances all the time?" he asked boredly, looking back at the papers that covered his desk.

"We have visitors," she said, barely able to keep from skipping like a little girl up to her brother's desk. "They're riding across the sand right towards us."

Gaara didn't even look up from his papers. "And?" he asked.

Temari rolled her eyes; men were so clueless about everything! "And so you should probably ride out there and meet them, you know, see what they want and who they are!"

The Kazekage stopped writing and looked up at his sister. "Alright, fine; I will."

Less then ten minutes later, Gaara was mounted on Kaen and he had several shinobi guards with him, also mounted on horseback. They rode out of the village gates and towards the figures in the distance, which were much closer now.

What had at first appeared as one single blur separated out into four as the Kazekage and his entourage drew closer; they were all on horseback.

Gaara pulled Kaen to a halt and studied the four figures as they also stopped before the small Suna group. Three of the four stood in a line, slightly blocking the fourth figure from clear view. These three consisted of two young men, one with black hair and one with brown hair, riding black and chestnut horses, and a young girl with black hair riding a grey horse.

"Good morning," Gaara greeted them politely, "What business do you have here in Suna?"

The black-haired boy gave a smirk that was vaguely familiar before answering, "We're hoping to move here and become permanent residents of Suna; but I think you should speak to our guardian about it."

The black and the grey horses sidestepped in opposite directions to reveal a cloud white horse being ridden by a girl with long, jet-black hair. She looked at Gaara with hazy blue eyes.

The Kazekage's throat tightened and his breath caught. "Aimi…" he whispered.

She gave him a little smile before she said softly, "I made it."


End file.
